Ms Clare Dunne:

I will kick off and then I may ask colleagues to come in. As I understand it, the Deputy raised four broad areas. The first related to other sectors such as hospitality and care assistants. We review the ineligible list and the critical skills list under the employment permit system twice a year. We do that in a very systematic and evidence-based way. We engage in widespread consultation with all of the key stakeholders, including all of the representative bodies, individual employers and the relevant Departments. We engage with the major data sources compiled by the likes of SOLAS and make use of the national skills bulletin and the national vacancy overview. Wherever there is a clear demonstrable need to take an occupation off the ineligible list or add one to the critical skills list, we will act on that need but we need the evidence. As I said, with regard to care assistants we are engaging very closely with the Department of Health and the other key stakeholders. They are telling us that, as of yet, they do not believe there is sufficient evidence to take care assistants off the list. We are guided by the lead Department, which is very close to the sector. That is the case at present. I am not saying it will not change in the future but that is what we are told now. The Department of Health is engaging with the nursing home sector. That is just an example.

With regard to the hospitality sector, again we engage very closely with the industry. We are coming to the end of our second review of the list system this year and we will meet representatives of the hospitality sector shortly. We engage with them on an ongoing basis. If they have clear evidence that demonstrates that they cannot find cleaning staff or bar staff, and that is verified in the skills bulletin or the national vacancy overview, we will listen to that. Our job is to listen to the needs of the economy. We are not the work permits police, nor do we want to be. We take a very measured approach based on evidence and engagement with the sector and the lead Department. We engage regularly with the hospitality sector and the health sector.

We have an interdepartmental group that was initially set up to oversee the conduct of the review. That interdepartmental group, which I chair on behalf of the Department, meets at a senior level across all relevant Departments, including the Departments of Education and Skills, Health, Public Expenditure and Reform, Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Transport, Tourism and Sport, and Housing, Planning and Local Government. All of the key Departments are represented on that interdepartmental group. We meet regularly. SOLAS is also part of the group. Decisions of this nature are taken collectively. Where a sector can produce evidence, we will respond. I want to make that clear. With regard to seasonal permits, we have been provided with clear evidence over time and we have been persuaded that this is the way to go.

The second question the Deputy asked was about the minimum annual remuneration. When legislation on work permits was introduced in the 2006 Act, it was decided to link the minimum annual remuneration to what was then the average industrial wage or average annual earnings as a benchmark. We were mindful of the fact that we were trying to attract people with critical skills or skills that were in short supply in Ireland. The wage levels have not been revisited since that time and are now way out of kilter with average annual earnings. We are trying to gradually move the minimum annual earnings back up-----