Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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110. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the analysis his Department has carried out into the removal of dental nurses from the ineligible list of occupations for employment permits particularly in view of the fact that emergency dental practice activities are listed as essential services under Covid-19 public health guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43795/21]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The State operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The system is intended to act as a conduit for key skills which are required to develop enterprise in the State for the benefit of our economy, while simultaneously protecting the balance of the labour market.

The system is managed through the operation of the Critical Skills and Ineligible Occupations Lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for an employment permit where there is a surplus of those skills in the domestic and EEA labour market.

In order to maintain the relevance of these lists of occupations to the needs of the economy and to ensure the employment permits system is aligned with current labour market intelligence, these lists undergo twice-yearly evidence-based reviews which are guided by research undertaken by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), the Skills and the Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU), SOLAS and involves public/stakeholder consultation. Account is taken of education outputs, sectoral upskilling and training initiatives and known contextual factors such as Brexit and, in the current context, COVID-19 and their impact on the labour market. Consideration is also taken of the views of the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group, chaired by the Department and of the relevant policy Departments.

The occupation of Dental Nurse is ineligible for an employment permit. In order to add or remove an occupation from the lists, evidence is sought demonstrating that recruitment difficulties are solely due to genuine shortages across the EEA and not to other factors such as salary and/or employment conditions. Sectors are also required to engage structurally with the public employment service of the Department of Social Protection. The review process invites stakeholders, through the public consultation, to provide data to substantiate claims of lack of skills or labour available in a detailed evidence-based business case.

A submission was received in respect of this occupation to the review completed in October 2020, no change was recommended at that time as the available evidence did not indicate recruitment difficulties for the role. A review of the occupation lists is underway at present, no submission has been received in respect of the occupation of Dental Nurse. Another review will commence later this year, to which the sector can make a detailed business case to have the occupation removed from the ineligible occupation list.