Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 November 2021
86. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to update, amend and or increase the prescribed list of work on the critical skills list; and his plans to make the application process more efficient for the applicant. [52270/21]
View answerThe employment permits system is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages, in circumstances where there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one. The system is managed through the use of lists designating highly skilled and ineligible occupations. The lists are reviewed twice a year to ensure their ongoing relevance to the State’s human capital requirements. The outcome of the most recent Review was announced on 28 October. A press release is available on my Department’s website.
Key features of the review were:
- Most construction sector jobs now eligible for a General Employment Permit
- Quota to be removed for HGV driver work permits
- 350 General Employment Permits for hospitality managers
- Social Workers to be eligible for Critical Skills Employment Permit
- Dispensing Opticians to be eligible for General Employment Permit
- New General Employment Permit quotas for 1,000 Horticulture Operatives, 500 Meat Deboners, 1500 Meat Processing operatives and 100 Dairy Farm Assistants; with a strategic review of labour attraction and retention in the sector to follow
- New General Employment Permit quota of 100 for Work Riders
In terms of the application process, my department is conscious of the recent lengthening of timeframes for processing applications and is taking a range of measures to clear the current backlog as quickly as possible. This includes redevelopment of the current employment permits IT system, which should drive further efficiencies in processing and result in increased productivity. My department advises employers to take current timelines into account as part of their recruitment plans.
The Trusted Partner Scheme is a key initiative, as part of the wider operation of the employment permits system, with regular users of the service eligible to apply to become a Trusted Partner. The Scheme not only eases the administrative burden on those utilising the service, through the removal of the requirement to replicate key information for every application made, but also allows the Department to deliver a faster turnaround for these applications, in furtherance of our commitment to provide a high-quality responsive employment permits service.
In addition the Employment Permits (Consolidation and Amendment) Bill sets out to consolidate the existing legislation to make a more accessible statutory basis for our economic migration system and to increase its agility and responsiveness, for example; modernising the labour market needs test, moving operational criteria to regulations to increase responsiveness, and streamlining requirements to make the grant process more efficient.
