Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
387. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will extend the critical skills permit to include non-EU healthcare workers whose salary does not meet the income threshold to apply for a family visa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47522/23]
View answerThe conditions governing the eligibility requirements for family reunification and spouses and/or dependents of employment permit holders are a matter for the Minister for Justice. The Department of Justice policy requires that the sponsor permit holder demonstrate their capacity to provide for their family member(s) if they are to be granted a permission to come to Ireland. The policy sets out the rationale for applying resource requirements as part of the overall assessment of whether to approve an application for family reunification and the conditions attaching to permissions issued to family members.
I have been informed that the Department of Justice policy in regard to family reunification, which was last amended in 2016, is currently under review.
Economic migration policy seeks to serve the skills needs of the economy without impacting the wider labour market. Remuneration for employment permit purposes is a labour market policy instrument in which the setting of minimum remuneration thresholds is a delicate balancing act. When the role of Healthcare Assistant (HCA) was made eligible for the General Employment Permit the minimum remuneration threshold was set in the context of a range of existing remuneration levels offered by employers in the sector. The framework was agreed following constructive engagement with the Department of Health, to provide a salary of at least €27,000 for the HCA role. This policy recognised the need to be able to attract workers while also ensuring that there is no disruption to the domestic labour market. Once granted the employment permits system allows for adjustments to certain employment conditions such as increases in salary arrangements made between the employer and the employee.
The role of Healthcare Assistant is currently eligible for the General Employment Permit. The Critical Skills Employment Permit is designed to attract highly skilled people into the labour market with the aim of encouraging them to take up permanent residence in the State. Eligible occupations under this type of permit are deemed to be critically important to growing Ireland’s economy, are highly demanded and highly skilled, and in significant shortage of supply in our labour market. This permit type is targeted at highly skilled occupations included on the Critical Skills Occupations List in sectors such as IT, finance, and highly skilled medical roles.
My Department is engaging with officials in the Department of Health with regard the framework of healthcare occupations to include consideration of future minimum wage thresholds and impacts on the labour market. This engagement seeks to review the impact of the removal of this role from the Ineligible Occupations List.
