Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 October 2021
248. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason for his decision to exclude home carers from the critical skills exemption list to the non-EEA employment permit system on recruitment in the sector; the steps he will take to remedy same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50977/21]
View answerThe State operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The system is intended to act as a conduit for key skills which are required to develop enterprise in the State for the benefit of our economy, while simultaneously protecting the balance of the labour market.
The system is managed through the operation of the Critical Skills and Ineligible Occupations Lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for an employment permit where there is a surplus of those skills in the domestic and EEA labour market.
In order to maintain the relevance of these lists of occupations to the needs of the economy and to ensure the employment permits system is aligned with current labour market intelligence, these lists undergo twice-yearly evidence-based reviews which are guided by research undertaken by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), the Skills and the Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU), SOLAS and involves public/stakeholder consultation. Account is taken of education outputs, sectoral upskilling and training initiatives and known contextual factors such as Brexit and, in the current context, COVID-19 and their impact on the labour market. Consideration is also taken of the views of the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group, chaired by this Department and of the relevant policy Departments, in this case the Department of Health.
The results of the most recently concluded review were announced on 14 June 2021. That review did not recommend removal of the occupation of care worker/home carers from the Ineligible Occupations List as the evidence suggested that the contracts of employment on offer and employment terms and conditions being offered are factors in the recruitment challenges faced by the sector, rather than a demonstrable labour market shortage. The sector has also previously been advised that a more systematic and structured engagement with the Department of Social Protection needs to be demonstrated.
