Bernard Allen
Ceist:201 Mr. Allen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of work visas allocated to a company (details supplied) in 1999, 2000, 2001 and to date in 2002. [17244/02]
Written Answers. - Work Permits.
This Department has authorised that up to a maximum of 206 employees of the named company may be given permission to enter the State under the intra-corporate transfer scheme for the purposes of carrying out work on a specific road contract under the national development plan. The employees in question will leave the State on completion of the contract.
Bernard Allen
Ceist:202 Mr. Allen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her Department has satisfied itself that Irish workers were not available for projects operated by a company (details supplied) before this company applied for work visas for non-EU nationals to work here. [17245/02]
The non-EEA employees of this company have been permitted to enter the State to work for this company under the intra-corporate transfer scheme, as the company has won a contract for an important NDP related project. The company in question has not applied for any working visas under the working visa scheme run by this Department.
Under this arrangement, the company is permitted to bring in a limited number of overseas personnel per contract, agreed in advance. The limit agreed for the contract in question is 206 employees, and I understand that most of these are now on site. My Department has been informed that some 43% of the workforce now on site is Irish. As part of agreeing such arrangements, my Department makes it clear that the contractors in question are expected to try to source Irish labour in respect of each contract and to establish a relationship with FÁS in this respect. My Department also understands that the company in question has also advertised extensively in local newspapers and that earlier in the year it agreed to a trade union request to place further advertisements for labour in the Cork area, but with a limited amount of success.
My Department's preparedness to facilitate this type of arrangement will continue to be informed by the employment situation in the Irish construction sector.