Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 108: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he has reviewed the new report from the UK Government's Migrant Advisory Council on the impact of job displacement on workers in the UK; if similar studies have been undertaken here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2863/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Irish economic migration policy is formulated in response to Irish circumstances and, therefore, differs from UK economic migration policy.

In Ireland, an employment permit, such as a Green Card, will only issue where a prospective employee has a job, and, in the case of an application for a Work Permit, the employer must also prove that the position cannot be filled from within the EEA. A key element of Irish economic migration policy has been to ensure that general labour and skills needs are met from indigenous labour and the wider workforce of the EEA.

I am aware that the UK Government's Migrant Advisory Council has produced a recent report analysing the impact of migration to the UK I have asked my officials to examine it.

The Employment Permits Act 2006 allows for regular review of Ireland's economic migration policies. My Department keeps these policies under review on an on-going basis having regard to the emerging needs of the labour market, drawing on the work of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and Forfás and in consultation with relevant Departments.

For example, in early 2009, the Department undertook a review of employment permit arrangements to ensure their on-going relevance to the needs of the Irish labour market.

As a result of this review, more stringent eligibility criteria were implemented for prospective new entrants to the work permit schemes from 1 June 2009 onwards. The main features of the new measures included

§ expanding the ineligible list of occupations for which permits can be issued;

§ increasing by 50% the fees charged at renewal stage for new permits issued after 1st June 2009, and

§ a reduction in the number of occupations for which Green Cards are issued.

More recently, the issue of economic migration and the current labour market has been reviewed in detail in the context of the Government's determination in December 2011 in respect of labour market access and the provisions of the Accession Treaties for Bulgaria and Romania.

Finally, it should be noted that, as our current employment permit arrangements are designed to be vacancy-driven, the number of permits issued over the last 3 years have been showing a consistent downward trend as evidenced by the Table below:

Permits Issued 2009 - 2011

I have also included a link to the UK report for information. http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/workingwithus/mac/27-analysis-migration/01-analysis-report/analysis-of-the-impacts?view=Binary