Hires out a dodgy permit (9)
I believe the answer is:
authorise
'permit' is the definition.
(authorising is a kind of permiting)
'hires out a dodgy' is the wordplay.
'dodgy' indicates an anagram.
'hires'+'out'+'a'='hiresouta'
'hiresouta' with letters rearranged gives 'AUTHORISE'.
(Other definitions for authorise that I've seen before include "commission" , "warrant" , "I share out (anag.)" , "Give power to or sanction" , "licence" .)