Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
1732. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health if consideration will be given to declaring a retail pharmacist as a critical skills shortage in order to expedite the process of registering European Union and non-European Union pharmacists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43348/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland’s employment permits system is managed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It is designed to attract highly skilled workers from outside the EEA to Ireland, to meet skills demand in the economy where those skills can’t be accessed through the resident labour force, in the short to medium term. This objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one. The system is vacancy led and 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 it is evidenced that there is more than sufficient availability of those skills in the domestic and EEA labour market.
The Deputy will be pleased to hear that I supported the inclusion of pharmacists on the critical skills occupations list and that Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD, announced on the 20th June of this year changes made by Statutory Instrument to the employment permits system which includes adding the occupation of Pharmacist to the Critical Skills Occupations List. This means that Pharmacists are now eligible for a Critical Skills Employment Permit.
