Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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78. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the cross-Departmental discussions that his Department has undertaken regarding the critical skills occupation list; when the list will extensively address the widespread skills shortages across all industries which are required for the proper functioning of the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45120/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland’s employment permits system is managed through the operation of the Critical Skills and Ineligible Occupations Lists which determine roles that are either professional occupations in critical short supply or those ineligible for an employment permit.

The regime is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages required to develop and support enterprise for the benefit of our economy. However, this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals are available to undertake the work and that the shortage is genuine one.

The lists are reviewed 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, the ending of the COVID-19 unemployment payments schemes and the Ukrainian humanitarian crises 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. My Department chairs the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group to oversee the review process which includes membership drawn from senior officials of key departments including the Department of Justice, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Education. The aim of the Group is to promote an integrated approach to addressing labour and skills shortages being experienced in the economy. This includes assessing proposals received through the public consultation for changes the Occupations Lists.

The public consultation process is an opportunity for stakeholders to provide additional information and potentially different perspectives on the nature and extent of skill shortages. Stakeholder submissions are a vital source of information, helping inform the Department’s final assessment of the status of occupations.

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.

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, with an emphasis on the process of lifelong learning, and on maximising the potential of EEA nationals to fill our skills deficits.

The Department continues to keep the employment permits system under review in light of changing labour market circumstances and the timing of the next Review of the Occupational Lists will be kept under consideration.