In a further announcement, the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke have announced that they have received Government consent to commence work on the implementation of a single permit to work and live in Ireland.
At present Non-EEA nationals who are outside of the State and need to apply for an employment permit to work in Ireland are required to submit an application to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in order to be issued with an employment permit. Once this issues, if the person is from a country which requires them to obtain a visa prior to travelling to Ireland, they must then apply to the Department of Justice in order to be granted an Employment Visa to enter the State. By introducing a single procedure and immigration permission, the Government hopes to lessen the cost and administrative burden on applicants applying for employment permits and visas, which is certainly an issue with the current system. The changes will allow Ireland to opt into the EU’s Single Permit Directive in the future which will increase the country’s competitiveness in attracting skills and talent to overcome labour shortages in the Irish economy.
Sinnott Solicitors, Dublin and Cork, are frequent users of the Employment Permit and Irish visa systems and greatly welcome the announcement but will be interested to see how the procedure will work in practice.
At present, the Department of Enterprise are responsible for issuing employment permits. Each week we are contacted by persons who have been issued with employment permits by the Department of Enterprise who have subsequently been refused employment visas to enter the State. The fact that one Government body are happy to grant a person an employment permit to enter the State but a second Government body then refuses them permission to enter the State to take up the employment, which they have been granted permission to undertake by the first government body, is a huge problem. It is having a significant impact on certain industries and employers who cannot secure Irish/EU Nationals or Irish residents to fill positions in their labour force. The employees are granted employment permits but refused visas to enter the State which prevents them from actually taking up the employment leaving the employer without staff which is having a detrimental effect on some businesses. Sinnott Solicitors, Dublin and Clork, are acting on behalf of many employers and employees in this situation with respect to Employment Visa applications and Employment Visa appeals, some of which are currently being litigated in the Irish High Court. Based on our current experience and observations, we submit that significant work, planning and engagement will be required from both Government Departments to develop a single procedure which is fit for purpose and solves the ongoing issues which are a significant problem with the current procedure.
An Inter-Departmental Working Group was established in December 2022 on this matter and has now advised the Government that it is reasonable to begin work on the Single Permit System. It is expected that implementation of the system will be completed over the next 3 years and introduced on a phased basis.
Sinnott Solicitors, Dublin and Cork, look forward to the implementation of a new efficient and fair system and will monitor the progression and development of same, providing further updates when available.
The full Notice of the Government Ministers as published on the 15th of May 2024 is available to read ഇവിടെ.
Sinnott Solicitors Dublin and Cork have a dedicated team of Immigration Solicitors and Consultants who are experts on all Irish immigration matters. If you have any queries on the contents of this article, or require assistance with your employment permit application, do not hesitate to contact our offices today on info@sinnott.ie or 014062862
