Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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102. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will indicate, arising from work permit applications in each of the past five years to date in 2015, the extent to which such applications were in respect of particular skills. [18902/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Since the early 2000s, Ireland has sought to meet labour and skills needs from within the European Economic Area (EEA) as far as possible, while limiting non-EEA labour migration to that of the most highly skilled and hard to find workers.

In times of economic prosperity, the eligible occupation categories are usually broadened to provide for an expanding economy, labour market shortages and skills needs. During a period of economic decline, the eligible occupation categories are narrowed and other restrictions are applied in line with a decline in employment opportunities and an oversupply of labour. However, even during such periods, the need to meet certain skills requirements remains, and during such periods, employment permits will still issue to non-EEA nationals where it can be demonstrated that their expertise is required or would be beneficial.

In 2012 it was recognised that the growth of Ireland’s economy was dependent on our ability to meet the skills needs of both our indigenous and multi-national enterprises and a key component of that rested on our ability to attract and retain these key skills through the employment permits regime pending the achievement of a sufficient supply of appropriately trained Irish and other EEA nationals via education and reskilling. Thus improvements to the employment permit regime were designed to help us meet our objective of providing a system that could quickly respond to skills gaps, could quickly process applications and could be used by employers with confidence to acquire those skills they are unable to source in Ireland. The changes made included broadening and updating the Highly Skilled Eligible Occupations List (HSEOL) and the ineligible occupations list.

The Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014, which commenced in October 2014, provides the flexibility to deal with changing labour market, work patterns and economic development needs which often require rapid response. The Regulations, as provided for in the Act, are being reviewed and adapted on a biannual basis to reflect the exigencies of a changing enterprise environment. They, inter alia, stipulate two types of occupation for the purposes of the employment permits system:

-The HSEOL sets out the lists of eligible occupations deemed to be critically important to growing Ireland’s economy, are highly demanded and highly skilled, and are in significant shortage of supply in our labour market. This list is an integral part of the Critical Skills Employment Permitwhich is designed to attract highly skilled people into the labour market with the aim of encouraging them to take up permanent residence in the State;

-The Ineligible Categories of Employment List includes those occupations for which there is a clear surplus of adequately skilled Irish and EEA nationals in the wider labour force. It is primarily focused on elementary occupations.

During 2013, my Department devised a process of reviewing and updating the HSEOL and Ineligible Categories of Employment List for employment permits bi-annually. This review is predicated on a formalised and evidence-based process. Such a process involves obtaining and considering advice from the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) and Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SMLRU - SOLAS). It also involves input from relevant Government Departments, Agencies, and industry as necessary.

The success of the employment permit system in helping to fill key ICT shortages in the Irish labour market is evident:

-Total number of permits issued to end Q1 2015 is up 19% on the same period in 2014;

-In all, 61% of the total permits issued in Q1 2015 were in respect of ICT professionals in critical short supply not only in Ireland but also in the EU and globally.

Detailed statistics are published on my Department's website which give a breakdown of employment permits issued by sector, county, company and nationality. These may be accessed at .