Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will consider adding physiotherapy and occupational therapy to the critical skills occupation list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6875/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The State's employment permit system is designed to supplement Ireland's skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit nationals from outside the EEA, where such skills or expertise cannot be sourced from within the EEA at that time.

The system is, by design, vacancy led and managed through the operation of the occupation lists: the critical skills list in respect of skills that are in critical shortage in the labour market and the ineligible occupations lists for which a ready source of labour is available from within Ireland and the EEA.

Changes to the employment permit occupations lists are made where there are no suitable Irish/EEA nationals available, development opportunities are not undermined, genuine skills shortage exists rather than a recruitment or retention problem and Government education, training and economic development policies are supported.

The lists are reviewed twice a year to ensure their ongoing relevance to the State’s human capital requirements, guided by available research undertaken by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), and the Skills and the Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU) in SOLAS. Cognisance is also taken of education outputs, sectoral upskilling and training initiatives and contextual factors such as Brexit and more recently COVID 19 and their impact on the labour market. The views of the relevant policy Departments are taken into account as well as those of the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group which my Department chairs and on which a number of Departments are represented.

Changes announced in June 2021 removed a number of health care occupations from the Ineligible Occupations List including Chartered Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist. This provides access to the General Employment Permit for non-EEA nationals wishing to take up employment in the State as a Chartered Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist.

The General Employment Permit is the primary vehicle used by the State to attract third country nationals in occupations with remuneration thresholds of generally €30,000. The General Employment Permit is also subject to a Labour Market Needs Test (LMNT), demonstrating that the employer was unable to fill the position from the Irish and EEA labour market.

The public consultation to the next review is planned for opening in Quarter 1 2022 and will be announced on the website of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Any sector wishing to have an occupation added to the Critical Skills Occupation List can make their case as part of the biannual review process.