Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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250. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason that the Public Appointments Service continues to advertise posts that include a requirement that the applicant must be a non-EEA citizen who is a spouse or child of an EEA or Swiss citizen and have a stamp 4 visa, given that there is a requirement under law not to discriminate on the civil status ground, and that many non-EEA citizens can be resident in Ireland for many years in relationships with EEA citizens and on a stamp 4 and do not intend to marry and that Section 36(1) and (2) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 only permits restrictions from employment in the civil and public service on the grounds of residence, citizenship or proficiency in the Irish language and makes no mention of civil status being an allowable discriminatory ground; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57267/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Posts in the Irish Civil Service are generally open to suitably qualified candidates who are nationals of an EU Member State, including Ireland, or the European Economic Area (EEA). Such individuals have the right under the EU Treaties to reside and take up employment in any EEA Member State. Non-EEA citizens do not benefit from these rights and do not automatically qualify to compete for these roles. Responsibility for determining the extension of these rights, including the relevant legislation, rests with the Department of Justice.

I am informed that a Stamp 4 visa denotes and evidences a category of immigration permission to remain in the State (in accordance with the Immigration Act, 2004) that permits the holder to enter employment without the requirement to hold an employment permit issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. However, Stamp 4 does not confer Irish citizenship on the holder, so does not automatically confer eligibility to compete for posts in the Civil Service.

Until now, a Non-EEA national who has been granted permission to remain in the State (with a Stamp 4 visa) on one of the following grounds may apply for jobs in the civil service:

- Permission to remain as spouse or a dependent of an Irish/EEA national

- Permission to remain as the parent of an Irish citizen;

The above criteria were agreed in 2020 to expand the then existing citizenship eligibility requirements. I have asked officials in my Department to engage with the Public Appointments Service and the Departments of Justice, Enterprise Trade and Employment to review the current eligibility criteria.