Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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74. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the recent changes to employment permits with respect to doctors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44998/22]

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 critical skills and ineligible occupation lists. These lists are usually subject to twice yearly evidence-based review, taking account of labour market research, a public consultation and contextual issues such as Brexit and Covid 19.

Doctors, including non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs), are on the critical skills list and are eligible for the Critical Skills Employment Permit. The Critical Skills Employment Permit is Ireland's premium employment permit and is targeted at highly skilled people in eligible occupations deemed to be critically important to growing Ireland’s economy, are highly demanded and highly skilled, and in significant shortage of supply in our labour market. This permit provides for immediate family reunification, broad access to the labour market for dependants, spouses and partners as well as fast tracking to long term residency after two years. The criteria attached to this permit type includes the requirement for the non-EEA national to have secured a job offer of two years.

In Q4 of 2021 my Department and the Department of Health announced changes to the employment permit system for Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors (NCHDs) in public hospitals or public health facilities. Going forward these NCHDs will receive a two-year multi-site employment permit, irrespective of the length of the initial employment contract. Subsequent employment contracts with a different public hospital or public health facility will be accommodated under this initial two-year multi-site General Employment Permit without the requirement to submit a new Employment Permit application. Doctors who obtain a new multi-site employment permit will be granted a new Stamp 1H from the Department of Justice. At the end of the 2-year period the NCHD will then be able to apply for Stamp 4 immigration permission. This will remove hundreds of doctors from both the Employment Permits and Immigration Service Delivery systems and reduce the administrative burden for the public hospitals or public health facilities as well as for the doctors concerned. This new change will also allow the spouse of doctors on Stamp 1Hs, to obtain a Stamp 1G which allows immediate access to the labour market. This will make Ireland a much more attractive location for internationally mobile doctors and will increase the supply of labour without creating additional housing demand.

In addition, in March this year, I along with the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Health announced further changes to allow non-EEA doctors currently in the State for 21 months or more, holding a General Employment Permit, to apply for a Stamp 4 immigration permission. A Stamp 4 permission allows the holder the right to work without the requirement to hold a valid employment permit. This scheme is currently open until 31st October 2022 and full details, along with the appropriate application form are available on my Department’s website. When this scheme was open earlier in the year, more than 800 doctors were successful in obtaining a Stamp 4 permission.