Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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83. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on whether chefs could be included in the list of eligible occupations for critical skills employment permits due to the shortage of their skill set within the hospitality sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45205/21]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Policy responsibility for the Hospitality Sector is matter for my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media. The Tourism and Hospitality Careers Oversight Group, under the auspices of Fáilte Ireland, was established in 2019 to coordinate relevant bodies to agree and implement a work programme addressing labour supply and skills requirements in the tourism and hospitality sector.

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.

Since 2019 all grades of Chef are eligible for the General Employment Permit which is the primary vehicle used by the State to attract third country nationals in occupations where it can be demonstrated that the employer was unable to fill the position from the Irish and EEA labour market. The minimum remuneration to be met to be eligible for a permit as a Chef is €30,000 with the requisite that the prospective employee have a number of years’ experience in the role, depending on the Chef grade applied for.

The Critical Skills Employment Permit targets those who have the skills identified as being in critical short supply, in order to drive our economic future. The prospective employee concerned must have secured a 2-year job offer in respect of the eligible occupation from the prospective employer.

The qualification criteria for this permit type are as follows:

- Occupations with a minimum annual remuneration of €32,000 for occupations on the the Critical Skills Occupations List. A relevant degree qualification or higher is requirement.

- In the case of a nurse or midwife, a third level degree or diploma accepted by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland as a sufficient qualification for registration to practice as a nurse or midwife in the State.

- All occupations with a minimum annual remuneration of over €64,000, other than those on the Ineligible List of Occupations for Employment Permits. In this circumstance, a non-EEA national who does not have a degree qualification or higher, must have the necessary level of experience.

In order to maintain the relevance of the occupation lists to the needs of the economy and to ensure the employment permits system is aligned with current labour market intelligence, the 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 including the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.

A review is currently under way with submissions received, including submissions from the Hospitality sector, under consideration. It is expected that the review will be finalised in the Autumn.