Aindrias Moynihan
Question:14. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for an update on progress towards the introduction of a single permit system for visas and work permits. [36627/25]
Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed)
Work Permits
There are employers who struggle to get skilled workers in a range of different sectors. They look across the world to find people but when they are recruiting, they struggle both with getting a permit and then possibly a visa to enter the country. What is the up-to-date position on getting the single visa application process up and running?
I thank the Deputy for his question. As he mentioned, legal migration plays an essential and very positive role in Ireland's society and economy. Legal pathways are vital to addressing labour shortages in the economy.
I have been working closely with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to ensure that Ireland's legal employment pathways are efficient and as convenient as possible. In May 2024, Government approval was secured for our plan to introduce a single permit to both work and live in Ireland. This decision followed detailed engagement by an interdepartmental group to explore the feasibility of the measure. As the Deputy is aware, there currently are employment permits. He mentioned the problems in having employment permits, visa applications and residency permits all processed separately. A detailed plan has been developed to unify these processes and an implementation team is working to introduce a single permit. Once this is in place, Ireland can then seek to opt into the EU single permit directive. This is a complex and technical project, involving linking two separate IT systems, and is likely to require legislative amendment. The project is due to be completed in 2027.
In the short term, steps are being taken to streamline the process so that information requests and checks are not duplicated. The customer experience will improve through aligning online information and introducing a single payment model. These steps will simplify the process for people while the common application platform is being developed. My Department is making a significant investment in the technology to fully digitise the immigration service. Also, changes were made last year to allow spouses and partners of employment permit holders to themselves take up employment without the requirement for a separate authorisation.
All of these initiatives are designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the economy and to support and recognise the vital contribution made by legal migrants to our economy and society.
In areas such as healthcare, farming, timber and other sectors, employers have struggled to get skilled staff. When they look abroad, it can be a slow and difficult process, between finding the person, his or her employment permit and the visa to enter. Each one after another can be a challenge. Employers could end up finding the person but not a visa to enter the country.
The Minister of State outlined the plan to move ahead with the single permit. Will he outline what milestones he sees along the way? What are the various steps he sees on that? Is it intended that it will be a phased introduction? Will he outline whether it is being phased in and whether it will be sector by sector?
To give the Deputy an idea of what the next steps are, an implementation team has been established, chaired jointly with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which will commence implementation of the single permit model. The adoption of the single permit approach is expected to be done by 2027. The programme will be delivered on a phased basis. The new application platform will be developed with customer benefits in the shorter term. Shorter term actions will be taken to remove the duplication of data collection and checks through improvement in communications. The medium-term actions will include the implementation of data sharing and integration between my Department and the Department of enterprise.
We will obviously make every effort to progress, not just in meeting that 2027 deadline, but in having the systems in place to stop that duplication as quickly as possible, which is the initial step. For people applying who are experiencing those difficulties, as the Deputy quite rightly indicated, between the visa and the permit, we are trying to get that process moving as fast as possible.
I have two different questions on that. On phasing, the Minister of State said a 2027 completion date was being aimed for. Will a switch be flicked in 2027 and everybody will apply? Is it being phased in sector by sector from then or just before it? As regards collaboration between his Department and the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, some of the sectors will be more difficult. For example, there are a small number of larger employers in healthcare, whereas in farming or timber, there are a lot of smaller employers. What is the level of engagement with those? Some of them will be more difficult to reach or engage with. Will the Minister of State outline what engagement he is having with those employers to make sure the application process is meeting their needs?
There is an ongoing process in the Department to reach out to try to simplify and put the application process in place. The answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". By 2027, it will be a complete one-stop shop and the process will be coming. That is the target date we are working towards for the completion of the process.
In the intervening period, my counterpart in the Department of enterprise and I are willing to see what we can do to ensure that we have better engagement with sectors, where it is needed between the two Departments, to ensure we streamline the process in advance of 2027. I fully take account of what the Deputy said about there very much being different requirements and difficulties within different sectors, but it is possible to work through those and work to have a much quicker process in the medium term based on the current processes. We will then have the complete changeover in 2027.
Joint Policing Committees
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:15. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will provide an update on the progress being made to operationalise community safety partnerships; to outline the timeline, the model and operation of the partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35632/25]
The Minister has kept to his word and we have the guidelines. I understand it to be seven councillors. What interaction is meant to happen between these partnerships and TDs? I welcome some of the other bodies to be represented on it. I would like to know how they are to be selected. I will ask questions about the ad hocery we had with JPCs in Louth that suited the constituency.
I thank the Deputy for the question. As he is aware, last week, I signed the regulations for the local community safety partnerships, which came into operation on Monday, 30 June. A total of 36 partnerships can now be established across the country, with partnerships in each local authority administrative area. That means there will be five in Dublin. Each LCSP will be led by a voluntary chair and supported by a full-time co-ordinator and administrator. The chair will be elected from among and by the membership of the safety partnership.
As the Deputy will appreciate, it is my intention that the local community safety partnerships will now be established as soon as is practicable throughout the country. They will replace and build upon the excellent work that was done by the JPCs and will bring together a broader range of people. As I said previously to Deputy Currie, they will have a direct involvement in trying to address many of the issues faced by local communities. The legislation is entitled "Policing, Security and Community Safety". It is not all about policing; there has to be community safety as well. The Garda cannot always deliver it on its own. That is why I welcome that the partnerships will include local councillors and representatives from the HSE, Tusla, the local authority executive, business, education and many others, obviously including An Garda Síochána.
As outlined in the regulations, the safety partnership may hold as many meetings as required but must meet at least six times a year, including one public meeting and one meeting for local authority members and Oireachtas Members. There will be a facility for Members of the Oireachtas to attend at least one meeting.
Each newly established partnership is required to develop and implement its own tailored community safety plan. The partnerships will take a strategic approach to their work so that issues arising can be dealt with in a co-ordinated manner and addressed collectively. Each partnership will have the ability to consider the local landscape. As Minister for justice, I intend to keep a close eye on their being established and to ensure they succeed in their work.
We all welcome that they are up and running. For too long, we have not had the forum of JPCs, which were useful for engagement with the Garda. We are talking about everything from organised crime right down to chaos and disorganised crime. Tusla, the HSE and those other groups will have a huge role. I would like to know how those other people are to be selected. Not only should we get this up and running very fast, but also there should be some sort of review capacity. Previously, TDs were able to sit on the joint policing committees, which made a difference. I think it was worthwhile at certain points in time. Is the Minister open to reviewing this? Tusla and particularly the HSE are an absolute requirement. I would like to know how the other organisations are going to be in play. We all welcome that we will have something that will be both strategic and thematic, which is necessary.
I note what the Deputy has said about the JPCs, which did a lot of good work. Like me, the Deputy is a former member of a local authority. At stages, they could become very formulaic, with many gardaí, including senior gardaí, sitting there and just engaging directly with local elected councillors on very specific issues. Many of the issues raised at JPCs were issues the Garda could not answer because they related to issues such as housing, health or childcare in terms of the role played by Tusla. There will be a benefit in having a broader range of people on the partnerships.
The Deputy asked if we would be reviewing the partnerships' operation. Of course, I will be keeping a close eye on them and there will be an assessment after a period of time as to the extent to which they are succeeding and achieving the objectives that we all want to see them achieve.
The Deputy asked about the process for the HSE and Tusla to nominate people. In the first instance, those bodies will put people forward and that will be the process by which individuals from those organisations come onto the partnerships.
My understanding is that nothing is holding this up. It is just a matter of getting it into play as quickly as possible. I understand the process for representation by Tusla, the Garda, the HSE and the local authorities; that is fairly easy. I am talking about the other bodies and organisations, such as community residents' associations. How exactly will that work? There is a huge body of work that needs to be done. I welcome that the Minister is talking about the possibility of a review. Many of us believe it was useful when there were joint policing committees. In Louth, joint policing committees were able to operate on the basis of Dundalk and north Louth, Drogheda and south Louth, and Ardee and mid-Louth.
We need to tackle those issues from organised crime right down into chaos and so on. I welcome what was said earlier about the Criminal Assets Bureau. We all know the world we live in. We need to look at the very particular issue we have at this point in time with organised crime and drugs. When certain people have had houses taken off them, they just regard it as the cost of doing business and they are back in operation again. We need a harm-reduction methodology but we also need to give police the ability to police.
When they are set up, we will look at them. We should not say in the first instance, "Let us start reviewing them." Let us get them up and running. Let us get them operating effectively and successfully. Everyone here wants them to succeed and I know that the partnerships themselves will want to succeed. If we manage to get this right, it will be a major step forward in terms of just raising issues of concern at local authority level. That is where the issues are really highlighted. This will provide a really useful mechanism to raise issues of concern relating to policing, housing and health.
There will be a statutory office in my Department with responsibility for the overview of the partnership scheme. Partnerships will not be set up as individual separate satellites where they operate independently without recourse to what is happening in other areas. The office in my Department will play a crucial role in ensuring that we see a harmonised and effective role throughout the country. There is no reason these cannot succeed and as Minister for justice, I am committed to seeing them succeed.