Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021
34. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if dairy farmers can avail of work permits for persons from India to work on dairy farms; if so, the process for application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1000/21]
View answerThe State's employment permit system 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.
In May 2018, my Department introduced a pilot quota-based scheme to remove the occupations of horticulture worker, meat processing operative and dairy farm assistant from the ineligible occupations list. This pilot scheme allowed workers from non-EEA countries to access employment opportunities.
The application of a quota-based system is to ensure that in the longer-term, strategies are put in place to source labour supply from both the domestic and European labour markets and to invest in innovative technologies.
This pilot scheme has proved very successful for a range of employers in the sector. The quota of 150 employment permits for Dairy Farm Assistant is now exhausted and has not been extended.
Changes to the employment permit occupation lists are made where there are no suitable Irish/EEA nationals available: development opportunities are not undermined: genuine skills shortage exists rather than a recruitment or retention problem: and Government education, training and economic development policies are supported.
The occupations lists are subject to twice yearly evidence-based review. The public consultation phase of the most recent review closed on 11 December, and consideration of the submissions received is currently ongoing. A submission has been received from the sector requesting the quota for dairy farm assistants be extended. The submissions will be considered in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as well as the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group, chaired by this Department. These reviews take account of research undertaken by the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SOLAS) and the Expert Group of Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) and of other issues such as Brexit and Covid 19.
