Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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171. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way in which a person (details supplied) should proceed to achieve stamp 4 or a work permit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42901/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The State's general policy is to promote the sourcing of labour and skills needs from within Ireland and other EEA countries. Where specific skills prove difficult to source within the State or EEA, an employment permit may be sought by an employer to hire a non-EEA national in line with the Employment Permits Acts and associated Regulations, which lay down in legislation the criteria in elation to the application, grant and refusal of an employment permit.

In order to work in the State all non-EEA nationals require a valid employment permit unless exempt under permission from the Department of Justice and Equality. In order to apply for an employment permit a non-EEA national must have secured a job offer for an eligible occupation from an Irish registered employer.

In order to assist with the application process, the Department has produced a suite of information including various checklist documents, a ‘User Guide' to our online application system and a comprehensive FAQ Document which answers the most common queries received regarding employment permits. All this information, including details on how to apply for an employment permit, can be found in the Employment Permit section of my Department’s website at

Any application for an employment permit should comply with all of the legislative requirements for the particular employment permit type, including that the non-EEA national has the required immigration permission at the time of application. Immigration permissions are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, and any such queries should be directed to that Department.