Ireland operates a managed employment permits system which maximises the benefits of economic migration while 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, by design, vacancy led and driven by the changing needs of the labour market, expanding and contracting in tandem with its inherent fluctuations.
The State’s general policy is to promote the sourcing of labour and skills needs from within the workforce of the State and other EEA states. Where specific skills prove difficult to source within the State and EEA, an employment permit may be sought by an employer to hire a non-EEA national.
There has been a significant increase in applications for employment permits over the course of 2021 and into 2022 which has impacted on processing times. From the start of January 2021 to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on 2019 (18,811), which itself represented an 11 year high in applications.
The increased demand was also driven by the extension of categories of employment permits following the Review of the Occupational Lists in October 2021. Processing times have also increased as a result of the HSE cyber-attack which had a direct effect on employment permit applications associated with the July 2021 Doctors' rotation, which had to be processed manually.
Cognisant of the significant impact the pandemic has had on the Hospitality Sector, when the sector reopened in July 2021, the Department committed to prioritise the processing of chef employment permit applications received in the processing queue at that time, in order to support the sector.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment recognises the impact delays in the processing times for work permits has for businesses and their workers and significant resources have been allocated to processing times. The Department is very conscious of the current timeframes for processing General Employment Permit applications and the Employment Permits Unit are committed to reducing these.
An plan of action has been implemented which has increased resources and implemented more efficient methods of processing applications in the permits system. The processing team has trebled in size and daily output has more than tripled compared to 2021 levels.
Since the implementation of this plan, the Employment Permits Unit has made positive progress to reduce the processing time for applicants.
The Department is placing a particular focus on 'new' employment permit applications over renewal applications, however it is important to note that once a Renewal application has been submitted within the period prescribed, the non-EEA National can continue to work while the application is awaiting processing.
Renewal applications will of course continue to be processed, however the focus of the Employment Permits Unit will be directed at new applications in the main processing queue. From 7 March, Renewal applications have their own separate processing queue and timeline on the Department’s website.
The Employment Permits Unit is currently processing Horticultural and Meat Sector General Employment Permits applications which were submitted in early December 2021, in addition to all other permits submitted then. Given the large volume of applications from the Agriculture sector (c.1,000 horticulture applications and c.2,000 meat applications) we anticipate that it will take a further 1-2 weeks to fully process all these applications, in addition to normal processing workload. The Department expects to see a consistent fall in waiting times for General Employment Permits from mid-May, with processing times considerably reduced by end Q2.
The Department published details of processing times on its website. In addition, applicants can enquire about the status of a particular Employment Permit Application vis the status form on the Department’s website - enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Workplace-and-Skills/Employment-Permits/Employment-Permit-Status-Form/.
