Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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622. To ask the Minister for Health if there are any plans to streamline the process for the recruitment of non-European Union healthcare workers for the nursing home sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45093/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has responsibility for the employment permits legislation and the granting of permits which facilitates the arrival of highly skilled non-EEA nationals wishing to take up employment in Ireland in an eligible occupation, to meet skills demand in the economy where those skills can’t be accessed through the resident labour force, in the short to medium term. This objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one.

In order to ensure the employment permits system is aligned with current labour market intelligence, these lists undergo regular, evidence-based review guided by relevant research, a public/stakeholder consultation, the views of the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group and relevant policy Departments, including the Department of Health. Account is also taken of upskilling and training initiatives and other known contextual factors, such as the ending of the pandemic unemployment payment schemes and the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis, and their impact on the labour market.

The Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD announced changes in June last year to provide access to the General Employment Permit for non-EEA nationals wishing to take up employment in the State as a Nursing Auxiliary or Assistant (Health Care Assistant) in hospital/nursing home settings. The changes also included removing a number of healthcare occupations from the Ineligible Occupations List. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment continues to keep the employment permits system under review in light of changing labour market circumstances.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year, impacting on processing times. From the start of January to the end of December 2021, 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.

Processing times for all Critical Skills applications have been reduced to 3 weeks. General Employment Permit applications for Trusted Partners (Persons who will make an offer of employment / Employers / Connected Persons and EEA contractors, who have applied for and been approved Trusted Partner status by DET&E) fell from 22 weeks to 3 weeks, with Standard applications reduced to 4 weeks. The Department aims to reduce these times yet further, on the assumption that demand remains at current levels.

The Employment Permits Unit of the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment has made positive progress by reducing the number of applications awaiting processing from c. 11,000 in January 2022 to under 2,500 today, despite further strong growth in demand during 2022.