Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 April 2019
136. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the steps being taken to increase the speed at which work permits are being issued; the number of outstanding work permits at the end of each of the past four calendar months, that is, 31 December 2018 to 31 March 2019, that remain to be processed by sector in tabular form. [17968/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy officials in the Employment Permits section of my Department inform me that current processing times for employment permits are:
- 3 weeks for Trusted Partner applications (which made up 71% of all applications in 2018).
- 11 weeks for Standard applications (which made up 29% of applications in 2018).
The Department is continuing to take steps to improve these processing times. The main reason for the delays is the current high level of demand for employment permits, due to our economic success, growing labour market and reduced labour surplus.
During 2018 some 16,800 applications were received which was approx. 30% higher than 2017. This strong demand has continued into 2019 with a 15% increase in applications received to date (3,755 applications received at end of March).
During 2018 13,398 permits were granted representing an almost 20% increase over last year. Quarter 4 in 2018 saw the highest number of permits issued in any quarter in the previous 10 years. The high levels of permits being issued has continued into 2019 with a 44% increase in permits issued through Quarter 1 when compared to the same period in 2018. A total of 3,878 permits have issued by end of March 2019 (which includes a number of permits that were applied for in 2018).
Through a combination of increased resources, staff working overtime and ICT and operational improvements, processing times are reducing with further improvements anticipated for standard applications in the coming weeks.
As well as the short-term measures introduced to date, my officials are currently seeking tenders for a Business Processing Reengineering study to be carried out to identify further efficiencies and identify possible new system requirements including exploring the development of a new IT system which will take advantage of all the new technologies available, including full digitisation. In parallel with this new development, the Department is determined to continue to reduce processing times and is engaging extensively with stakeholders to ensure that they understand the process and that they comply with the application requirements so that no unnecessary delays occur.
There are currently approximately 1,890 permit applications in the processing queue, down from a peak of 3,230 in September 2018. All permit applications remain in this queue until reached for processing at which stage the appropriate economic sector is assigned. Therefore, there is no statistical breakdown by economic sector for applications in the processing queue. However, please find the overall amount of permit applications in the processing queue that remained to be processed on the dates requested.
|
Date |
Employment Permit applications in processing queue at month end |
|
31st December 2018 |
2,637 |
|
31st January 2019 |
2,052 |
|
28th February 2019 |
1,975 |
|
31st March 2019 |
1,731 |
