Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2022
177. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the manner in which it is determined to add a sector to the critical skills list; if exceptions are made due to need; if he has considered adding any additional agriculture skills to the list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29596/22]
View answerThe State's employment permit system is designed to support enterprise and supplement Ireland's skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals, where such skills or expertise cannot be sourced from within the EEA at that time.
In framing policy regarding employment permits, thought is given to complementing the primary policy objective of Government, the upskilling of the resident population at all levels and the wider policy instruments that are also available in meeting the challenges presented by skills shortages.
The system is, by design, vacancy led rather than focused on employment sectors, locations or employer type. The regime is 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.
The lists are subject to regular, evidenced-based review to ensure their ongoing relevance to the State’s human capital requirements, guided by available research undertaken by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), and the Skills and the Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU) in SOLAS. The review process incorporates a public consultation, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to submit information and perspectives on the nature and extent of skills or labour shortages. Stakeholder submissions are a vital source of information and views, helping inform the Department’s final assessment of the status of occupations.
Account is also taken of upskilling and training initiatives and other known contextual factors, such as the ending of the pandemic unemployment payment schemes and the Ukrainian humanitarian Crisis, and their impact on the labour market.
In order to have an occupation considered for adding or removing from the Occupations Lists, there needs to be a clear demonstration that recruitment difficulties are solely due to shortages across the EEA and not to other factors such as salary and/or employment conditions. Stakeholders need to provide the necessary data to substantiate their claims and are also required to engage structurally with the public employment service of the Department of Social Protection.
Submissions to the review are considered by the Interdepartmental Group on Economic Migration Policy with membership drawn from senior officials of key Government Departments, who may provide their observations on the occupation under consideration. As the Department of Agriculture is the relevant policy department for the agricultural sector, support to a request such as adding agricultural skills to the Critical Skills Occupations List would be sought from that Department in the first instance.
