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

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the Employment Permits Bill 2022 in the Seanad today. The purpose of this Bill is to consolidate and update the legislative provisions that regulate the employment permits system, namely the Employment Permits Acts of 2003 and 2006, as amended in 2014.

The conclusions of the 2018 review of economic migration policy endorsed the robust fundamental structure of the existing system. It recommended that new legislation be initiated to increase the responsiveness of the system, to modernise it, and to ensure that it can adapt to the changing needs of the labour market of the future. The policy underlying the economic migration system is that it should synchronise with the skills and labour needs in the economy while prioritising the Irish and EEA labour pool. The changes proposed in the Bill give effect to many of the review’s recommendations without changing this core goal. It retains the key policy focus of supporting the economy through evidence-based decision making and ensuring the rights of migrant workers are protected. The current legislation includes a number of improvements.

The Bill introduces a change of employer option removing the need for those on the critical skills and general employment permits to submit a new employment permit application should they wish to move employer. This will improve the attractiveness of Ireland as an economic migration destination by allowing these permit holders to move employer after a prescribed period with the original employer, which is planned to be nine months. This will replace the current arrangement which requires the application for a new permit after a period of 12 months has passed on their first permit.

The Bill ncreases the routes to employment through the introduction of a new seasonal employment permit, SEP. This new seasonal permit will be based on a strong labour rights foundation and will facilitate the needs of certain sectors operating on a seasonal basis. It will be a short-term employment permission for a third country national to work in the State for a maximum of seven months per calendar year and provides for the return of the worker each season, renewable across multiple years. It is designed to support sectors in addressing labour shortages and has been developed in consultation with stakeholders.

Indexation provisions in the Bill will ensure salary thresholds for employment permits remain, at least, in line with average wage growth. This will be achieved by indexation against the annual change in mean weekly earnings as calculated by the CSO.

At the end of 2023, I introduced updates to the minimum salary thresholds for employment permits as they had become seriously outdated, having not kept pace with wage inflation in the nine years since they were established in 2014. This indexation provision ensures that such a situation will not arise again.

The agility of the employment permits processing system will be greatly improved by moving operational details to secondary legislation for easier modification, as circumstances require. This will ensure more flexibility in the operation of schemes and that they remain up to date. For example, the more detailed requirements of the labour market needs test are being moved to regulations to enable updates to the form that the advertisement must take in order to keep pace with updated forms of media including online platforms and professional jobs websites. All drafting has been guided by the Office of the Attorney General to ensure that the provisions of the Bill are in line with current jurisprudence and that any criteria moved to regulation are securely anchored in primary legislation.

The Bill provides for additional conditions that must be met before an employment permit can be granted, such as training or accommodation support for migrant workers, and evidence of business process innovation or upskilling to decrease future reliance on permits. This also includes the option to make the granting of employment permits dependent on the employer also taking on trainees and apprentices, where appropriate.

The status and employment opportunities of permit holders is enhanced by a new provision allowing permit holders to retain their permit in circumstances where they have been promoted or move internally. Currently, the permit holder may be required to submit a new permit application. This amendment could reduce the administrative burden for companies and permit holders and reduce accidental non-compliance with employment permits legislation.

The Bill also provides for the facilitating of third-party contractual arrangements including subcontractors and agencies through a revised definition of "employer" based on the existence of a contract. This facilitates an agency becoming the employer of a permit holder while the permit holder carries out the work for a client of that agency, making it possible for the client to provide for the salary. A definition of "subcontractor" is also added to the Bill which allows these entities to avail of the contract for service employment permit.

During these Stages I will also propose amendments to the current section of the Bill designed to address the challenges in providing employment permits promptly to non-EEA nationals who take temporary employment as non-consultant hospital doctors in public hospitals and public health facilities. Officials in my Department and the Department of Health are drafting the instructions on this issue to ensure the provisions are fit for purpose.

I am also considering technical amendments on some minor issues to ensure the Bill continues to be in line with its current requirements. Included here is an amendment to section 8 of the Bill which sets out the cohorts for whom an employment permit is not required. This will formalise the fact that recipients of international protection who have access to the labour market after six months by virtue of their permission, do not require an employment permit.

I look forward to an informed and meaningful debate and to working constructively with Senators on all sides of the House on what I think is an important piece of legislation on an important area that has been discussed at length recently. Ultimately, we are talking about people who play a vital role, not just in our economy but crucially, in our society. They deserve protection, rights and a decent day's pay. That said, their employers need to be in a position where they can bring even more people here to fill the very clear skills gaps. It is not about cheap or low skills labour. It is about filling gaps in our economy to provide for a better economy, more success for businesses and to provide more services throughout the State to allow our society to function better for everyone, be they born here or elsewhere.