Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Following the review of the Employment Permits Occupations Lists in 2023 the occupation of HGV/bus mechanic was removed from the ineligible occupations list and became eligible for a General Employment Permit, subject to a quota of 200 General Employment Permits.

This role became eligible for a General Employment Permit with effect from 20 December. Before an application can be submitted for this role, there is a requirement for the employer to undertake a Labour Market Means Test (LMNT). To meet the requirements of the 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. As the quota was effectively opened on 17 January, no applications for this role have been processed to date, but a keyword search of the processing queue indicates that three applications have been received and are awaiting processing (it should be noted that as an occupational code is not determined until an application is processed, it is not possible to give a precise details of the number of applications for a given role in the queue).

There is currently a very high demand for employment permits, following the changes to the occupations lists and salary thresholds. The Department has assigned additional resources to help manage this demand. Current processing times are available on the Department’s website at Current processing dates - DETE (enterprise.gov.ie).