Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2019
554. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation her views on issues raised regarding employment permits and the claims made in correspondence (details supplied) concerning the hiring process to fill the roles in question; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18890/19]
View answerIreland’s Employment Permits system acts as a conduit for key skills which are required to develop enterprise in the State, while simultaneously protecting the balance of the labour market and the employment rights of those migrants who come to work here. By design it is pro-cyclical, expanding and contracting in tandem with fluctuations in the economy. The system is ordered through a list structure to prioritise particular capabilities, especially those where, due to rapid sectoral growth or technological development, there is a shortage or absence of specific skills immediately in the labour market. The lists, which identify critical skills, and skills for which there is ample capacity already in the resident labour market, are reviewed on a bi-annual basis, to keep the orientation of economic migration firmly in step with the precise needs of the labour market.
Where specific skills prove difficult to source within the State and wider EEA, therefore, an employment permit may be sought by an employer to hire a non-EEA national, subject to the Employment Permits Acts and Regulations. The Employment Permits Acts and associated Regulations set out the criteria in relation to the application, grant and refusal of an employment permit.
Critical Skills Employment Permits are granted for occupations on the critical skills occupations list where annual remuneration exceeds €30,000 and in addition for eligible occupations, i.e. which are not on the ineligible occupation list, where remuneration exceeds €60,000 per annum. The sales roles which are included on the critical skills list are those where the focus is either International sales, or business to business IT sales, where the prospective employee is fluent in the official language of a non-EEA state. Where the application satisfies these and other criteria in relation to, for example, qualifications, an employment permit will be granted.
The Workplace Relations Inspectorate of my Department has responsibility for the monitoring and enforcement of the rights, protections and entitlements under the employment protection legislation and operates without any differentiation with regard to worker nationality. These responsibilities encompass compliance with the Employment Permits Acts. All allegations of breaches of the Employment Permits Acts are referred the WRC for their investigation. The WRC act independently of the Minister and the Department in their exercise of their statutory functions and do not comment on the outcomes of individual investigations.
