Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 October 2021
97. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has received a work permit application by a person (details supplied); and if so, when it will be processed. [50056/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Employment Permits section of my Department inform me that an application for a General Employment Permit for the person concerned was received on 15 September 2021.
The Department has seen a significant increase in applications for employment permits this year. Latest statistics show to the end of September, some 17,084 applications were received, representing a 41% increase over the same period in 2020 (12,115) and a 23% increase on 2019 (13,868), which itself was an 11 year high.
Processing times have been impacted by this increase in demand but also because of the HSE cyber-attack. As a result, employment permit applications associated with the July Doctors rotation (which occurs twice yearly in January and July) had to be submitted either manually or through other nonstandard methods. This resulted in a significant additional administrative burden in dealing with these applications, requiring staff to be temporarily reassigned to assist in the process and had a direct impact on wider processing times for other permit applications.
It is important to point out that when set against other international employment permit regimes, Ireland continues to compare extremely favourably, even at current processing times. However, my Department is very conscious of the recent lengthening of timeframes for processing Employment Permit applications and is committed to reducing these further. My Department is taking a range of measures to reduce the current backlog as quickly as possible. It advises employers to take current timelines into account as part of their recruitment plans.
My Department updates the employment permit processing timelines on its website on a weekly basis and regularly issues updates on relevant employment permit matters to Trusted Partners such as the recent update on employment permit processing timelines. The Employment Permits section of my Department is currently processing Standard applications from 29 June and Trusted Partners from 13 July.
