Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 419: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a person (details supplied) in County Clare could apply for a work permit for a South African as they have exhausted all other means of filling the position by a person within the enlarged EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6504/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The work permit section of my Department has informed me that it has no record of any valid application in this instance. It should be pointed out, however, that incomplete and incorrectly completed applications, or applications for ineligible sectors or ineligible types of positions, are returned to the employer concerned.

I should add that, in the aftermath of EU enlargement, it is Government policy that employers should be able to source nearly all of their workforce needs from within the EU. Accordingly, it is in cases where exceptional levels of skill and qualifications are required for the job, and the employer has made meaningful attempts to find EEA nationals first, that my Department will consider work permit applications.