Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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171. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will reverse a decision to exclude homecare workers from the critical skills exemption to the non-EEA employment permit system to ensure that community-based care is adequately resourced in line with commitments made in the Programme for Government. [53990/21]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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172. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason a decision was taken to exclude homecare workers from the critical skills exemption to the non-EEA employment permit system. [53991/21]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 171 and 172 together.

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 my Department and of the relevant policy Departments, in this case the Department of Health.

The results of the most recently concluded review were announced on 28 October 2021. The review did not recommend removal of the occupation of care worker/home carers from the Ineligible Occupations List as the evidence suggested that the contracts of employment on offer and employment terms and conditions being offered are significant factors in the recruitment challenges faced by the sector, rather than a demonstrable labour market shortage. The sector has also previously been advised that a more systematic and structured engagement with the Department of Social Protection needs to be demonstrated.

The next Occupational Lists Review will open in the coming months and submissions from sectors will be invited through a public consultation.