17th February 2016
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Richard Bruton TD, welcomed the launch this week of a new service for the users of the Employment Permits system.
With the introduction of this new service, applicants for employment permits can check online the current status of their application. In addition, once an application has been assigned to a decision maker, applicants can find out how much longer it will take for a decision to be made.
This is part of Minister’s drive to further improve service delivery to users of the Employment Permits system. It is in the context of continuing growth of Ireland’s economy which is dependent on our ability to meet the skills needs required for both our indigenous and multi-national enterprises. The success of the employment permit system in helping to fill key shortages in the Irish labour market is evident:
- Total number of permits issued in 2015 was up 32% on the year 2014;
- Total number of permits issued to the ICT sector in 2015 was up 33% compared to 2014.
- In all, 34% of the total permits issued in 2015 were in respect of ICT professionals.
This new facility follows on from the launch of the new Trusted Partner Initiative in May 2015 which has helped to reduce the administrative burden on employers and speed up the process in the time it takes an employer to benefit from the relevant skills on the ground. Over 130 employers have availed of this Initiative and 950 employment permits have issued to date.
Under the Action Plan for Jobs 2016, the Minister has committed to the introduction of an online employment permit application and payment system by Q3 2016.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
DJEI Press Office, 01 631 2200 or press.office@djei.ie
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