Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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99. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will designate retail pharmacy as a critical skills shortage in Ireland. [22517/22]

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 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, including the Department of Health are represented.

The occupation of Retail Pharmacist is currently eligible for a General Employment Permit for non-EEA nationals wishing to take up employment in the State. 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.

However, where the vacancy attracts a salary of over €64,000, an LMNT is not required and the role may be eligible for the Critical Skills Employment Permit.

The next review of the occupations lists is expected to commence with a public consultation in Q2 2022. When open, submissions will be invited from sector representative bodies and interested parties via the Public Consultation Form which will be accessible on the Department’s website.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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100. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a minimum time can be achieved for the processing of applications for work permits for non-EEA workers in the hospitality sector in which there is a critical shortage of available skilled workers; if he will consider simplifying the application process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22528/22]

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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101. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will consider deploying additional staff to the employment permit section of his Department to reduce the backlog in work permit applications and to enhance the level of engagement with applicants to ensure completed applications are not rejected due to a clerical error or omission in the application form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22529/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 101 together.

The State’s general policy is to promote the sourcing of labour and skills needs from within the workforce of the European Union and other EEA states. However, where specific skills prove difficult to source within the EEA, an employment permit may be sought in respect of a non-EEA national who possess those skills.  This policy fulfils our obligations under the Community Preference principles of membership of the EU. Under the Employment Permit Acts in order to work in the State all non-EEA nationals require a valid employment permit or relevant immigration permission from the Minister for Justice which allows them to reside and work in the State without the requirement for an Employment Permit.  

Employment permit policy is part of the response to addressing skills deficits which exist and are likely to continue into the medium term, but it is not intended over the longer term to act as a substitute for meeting the challenge of up-skilling the State’s resident workforce.  In order to meet this demand, the Government is committed to building and retaining a highly skilled workforce to serve the needs of the economy and has introduced a series of initiatives focused on workforce upskilling of new workforce entrants and those made redundant by the pandemic.

All applications are processed in line with the Employment Permits Act 2006, as amended and are dependent on a job offer from an Irish registered Employer for an eligible occupation.  It should be noted that the State's employment permit system is ordered by the use of occupation lists which determine which employments are highly demanded and which are ineligible for consideration for employment permits at a point in time.  These lists are reviewed on a twice-yearly basis.

To assist applicants when applying for an employment permit checklist documents have been prepared.  Notably, checklist documents have been specifically prepare to assistant applicants when applying for a General Employment Permit for the roles of Chef and Hospitality Manager and these, inter alia, are available on the Department's website through the following link - Employment Permits Checklists - DETE (enterprise.gov.ie).

There has been a significant increase in applications for employment permits over the course of 2021 and into 2022 which has impacted on processing times.  From the start of January 2021 to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on 2019 (18,811), which itself represented an 11 year high in applications. 

The increased demand was also driven by the extension of categories of employment permits following the Review of the Occupational Lists in October 2021.  Processing times were also impacted as a result of the HSE cyber-attack which had a direct effect on employment permit applications associated with the July 2021 Doctors rotation, which had to be processed manually.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment recognises the impact delays in the processing times for work permits has for businesses and their workers and significant resources have been allocated to processing times. The Department is very conscious of the current timeframes for processing General Employment Permit applications and the staff of the Employment Permits Unit are committed to reducing these.

An internal plan of action has been implemented which has increased resources and implemented more efficient methods of processing applications in the permits system.  The processing team has trebled in size and daily output has more than tripled compared to 2021 levels.

Since the implementation of this plan, the Employment Permits Unit has reduced the number of applications awaiting processing from c. 11,000 in January 2022 to c. 6,900 to date.  As new staff were trained on Critical Skills Employment Permits, waiting times for those permits has fallen from 21 weeks for a Standard applicant to 6 weeks today.

The Employment Permits Unit is currently processing Horticultural and Meat Sector General Employment Permits applications which were submitted in early December 2021, in addition to all other permits submitted then.  Given the large volume of applications from the Agriculture sector (c.1,000 horticulture applications and c.2,000 meat applications) we anticipate that it will take a further 1-2 weeks to fully process all these applications, in addition to normal processing workload.  The Department expects to see a consistent strong fall in waiting times for General Employment Permits from mid-May, with processing times considerably reduced by end Q2.

As a result of incomplete or incorrect information being submitted at the time of application, the Employment Permits Unit may contact the applicant seeking additional information in support of the application in order to have all of the available information prior to making a decision.  In cases where an application has been rejected, a full detailed account of the reasons are detailed in the letter of refusal, as well as information in relation to seeking a formal review of any such decision.  A request for a review of the refusal decision must be submitted within 28 days from date of issue of the refusal notification.

Information is provided on the Department’s website in relation to employment permits including information in relation to each permit type, latest updates and an FAQ document which answers the majority of the most common questions, all of which are available through this link - enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Workplace-and-Skills/Employment-Permits/

Online employment permit applications may be submitted at epos.djei.ie.  A user guide to assist with online applications is available at the following link epos.djei.ie/EPOSOnlinePortal/UserGuide.pdf

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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102. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will remove the requirement for the hospitality sector to produce a HSE letter confirming their possession of a restaurant licence when applying for an employment permit; if the employment permit section of his Department will accept a copy of a valid restaurant licence as part of the application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22530/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Under the Employment Permits legislation my Department applies a range of criteria to both the employer and the employee when assessing an application for an employment permit, including that a contractual relationship exists, minimum annual remuneration requirements are met and that any registration requirements are met prior to issuing the permit.

When assessing an application for an employment permit for a role in a restaurant, additional documentary requirements are prescribed. This includes the requirement for the employer to establish tax compliance, copies of the restaurant premises utility bills for within a certain period, and a letter from the relevant official agency confirming that the employer has registered its premises in accordance with member States of the EEA regulations with regard to hygiene and foodstuffs. The Health Service Executive (HSE) is the competent authority for regulating food businesses in Ireland and in establishing a restaurant’s compliance with these EU regulations.

The Department has made available a specific checklist for the restaurant sector to assist with applications for General Employment Permits. This checklist is available on the Department’s website at enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/Checklist-for-Chefs.pdf.