Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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589. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if a company that cannot source indigenous or EEA national employees can fill vacancies by employing non-EEA nationals due to the shortage of skilled workforce here. [15330/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Irish State’s general policy is to promote the sourcing of labour and skills needs from within the workforce of Ireland, the European Union and other EEA states.  Policy in relation to applications for employment permits remains focused on facilitating the recruitment from outside the EEA of highly skilled personnel, where the requisite skills cannot be met by normal recruitment or by training.  Employment permit policy is part of the response to addressing skills deficits which exist and are likely to continue into the medium term, but it is not intended over the longer term to act as a substitute for meeting the challenge of up-skilling our resident workforce, with an emphasis on the process of lifelong learning, and on maximising the potential of EEA nationals to fill our skills deficits.

The employment permits system is ordered through a list structure: the Highly Skilled Eligible Occupations List, which lists occupations in high demand in the Irish labour market and the Ineligible Categories of Employment List, which lists occupations for which there is ample capacity already in the Irish/EEA labour market.  An evidence-based review of these lists is conducted by my Department twice a year in order to keep the orientation of economic migration firmly in step with the precise needs of the labour market. The next review is due to commence in April with the public consultation process.

Where specific skills prove difficult to source within the EEA, an employment permit may be sought in respect of a non-EEA national who possesses those skills.  For occupations that are not on the ineligible list and are not on the Highly Skilled List an employment permit may be sought subject to a labour market needs test being conducted.  All applications are processed in accordance with the Employment Permits Act 2006, as amended and are dependent on a specific job offer. 

Full information on the current eligibility criteria in relation to employment permits can be found on the Department’s website at .

If any non-EEA national is successful in securing a job offer from an employer in Ireland which falls within those employments eligible for an employment permit they may make an appropriate application. Applications for an employment permit online at