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Labour Market

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 November 2020

Wednesday, 25 November 2020

Questions (28)

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

28. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department will work with large multinational companies on ensuring that, in circumstances in which international sales jobs necessitating language skills and an understanding of specific areas, such as areas (details supplied), are created, due consideration will be given to hiring workers from migrant communities before the critical skills occupations list clause 3542 is used to recruit for these jobs from the international labour market. [39089/20]

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Written answers

Economic or labour migration policy is essentially the framework within which the State's employment permit system operates. It is designed to supplement Ireland's skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit nationals from outside the EEA, where such skills or expertise cannot be sourced from within the EEA at that time.

The system is not orientated towards any particular country or region. The system is, by design, vacancy led and managed through the operation of the occupation lists : the critical skills list in respect of skills that are in critical shortage in the labour market and the ineligible occupations lists for which a ready source of labour is available from within Ireland and the EEA. Every other job in the labour market, where an employer cannot find a worker, may be eligible for an employment permit. The employer must undertake a labour market needs test to ensure that those currently in the labour market are the first cohort of people from whom employers should seek to recruit.

The Deputy references an occupation currently on the critical skills list; business sales executives specialising in international sales roles with a non-EEA language. The evidence in respect of this occupation is that there is a skills shortage in the domestic /EEA labour market.

Under the Employment Permit Acts, in order to work in Ireland, all non-EEA nationals require valid employment permit or relevant immigration permission from the Minister for Justice which allows them to reside and work in the State without the requirement for an employment permit.

I am advised that the Department of Social Protection, through Intreo, as the national public employment service, helps to match supply and demand in the labour market through information, placement and active support services at local, national and European level. Intreo is a single point of contact for all employment and income supports. Designed to provide a more streamlined approach, Intreo offers practical, tailored employment services and supports for jobseekers and employers alike.

Where a particular skills set is required, the Employer Relations Officers of the Department of Social Protection, can offer a service to employers, including multinational enterprises, whereby they can match the skills requirement to vacancies to identify potential candidates and can also engage with appropriate representative groups to identify groups through its networks and social media.

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