Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Stanton for again raising this issue and for consistently doing so constructively and productively over a period. One of the attractions of the critical skills employment permit is that holders of these permits can apply to the Department of Justice for immediate family reunification and, once their partners or spouses are resident in the State, they are eligible to apply to that Department for their own immigration permission, which can give them the right to take up any employment in the State without the need for an employment permit. Spouses or partners of holders of intra-company transfer employment permits do not currently receive automatic work rights on the basis of their spouses' permit and corresponding immigration permission. They are, however, free to apply for a separate employment permit in their own right.

The Department of Justice, which has responsibility for the conditions governing the eligibility requirements for immigration and work permissions for non-EEA nationals and their spouses, is conducting a review of its broader family reunification policy, including the work rights of spouses. The Department of Justice policy requires that sponsors demonstrate their capacity to provide for family members 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. That work is ongoing at present and my Department has been engaging with the Department of Justice to support this review.

It is worth noting that, last December, we added 43 different occupations to the work permits list. We are proactively seeking people to come to this country to fill very clear skills gaps. More than 31,000 people came from outside the European Economic Area. It is a great shame that, after all of the effort involved in people applying for these work permits, getting accepted and then moving their families over, we then see them leaving those positions. These are often really top-level positions but people are leaving because their spouses or family members cannot work or cannot follow them out on a visa.

A second issue relating to intra-company transfers is consistently raised with all three Ministers by the highest level executives in some of the most important multinationals who see that level of transferability as part of management at that level. When I say we are actively engaging with the Department of Justice, I mean that the Department is making a very clear case as to the need to make these changes so that our work permit system continues to be fit for purpose for everyone, including those undertaking intra-company transfers.

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