Did you do an explain plan on this to see how your query executes?:

SELECT I.CNY#, (select NVL(max(record#),0)+1 from PERM where cny# = I.CNY#)+rownum RECORD#,
'T' STATUS, I.RECORD#, P2.ELEMENT, P2.PERMISSION
FROM PERM P2, USERINFO I WHERE P2.CNY#= 571 AND P2.USERREC = 1 AND I.CNY# != 571 AND I.ADMIN = '1';

Sam