Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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174. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of employment permits that have been granted to home carers, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3258/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Changes to the employment permits system for workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to address skills shortages in Ireland’s Home Care sector were announced on 16 December 2022.

Applications for General Employment Permits (GEP) in respect of this role can only be submitted when a valid Labour Market Needs Test (LMNT) has been undertaken. To satisfy a valid LMNT, an employer must advertise the vacancy with the Department of Social Protection Employment Services/EURES employment network for at least 28 consecutive days without any edits or amendments.

To date there has been no Employment Permits issued in respect of non-EEA homecare workers form the quota of 1,000 announced in December 2022.

The table below shows the total number of employment permits that have been granted in respect of home carers by county from January 2018 to December 2022 inclusive. It should be noted that prior to 16 December 2022, employment permits for home carers were only granted in the following strictly limited circumstances: where the person who requires the care has a severe medical condition and the prospective carer is a trained medical professional (a medical practitioner or a nurse as listed in Part A of Schedule 2 in the Regulations), or where it can be demonstrated that the applicant has a long history of caring for the person requiring the care.