Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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While immigration and visa policy falls under the remit of the Department of Justice, my Department has responsibility for economic migration policy and the employment permits regime. Non-EEA nationals seeking permission to arrive in the State must interact with the Department of Justice for entry and residence permission, and, depending on their nationality, visa requirements.

The 2023 Review of the Employment Permit Occupations Lists delivered comprehensive changes to the employment permits system. A roadmap for increasing salary thresholds for employment permits was also introduced in January following the report on the Minimum Annual Remuneration (MAR) thresholds.

In recognition of the recruitment challenges facing the agri-food and horticultural sectors, certain occupations previously eligible for General Employment Permits (GEP) under quota have had their quotas extended, as follows:

• 1,000 GEPs for meat processing operatives
• 350 GEPs for butcher/boners
• 350 GEPs for dairy farm assistants
• 1,000 GEPs for horticultural workers

A summary of the changes is available in a Report on the Department’s website.

The passage of the Employment Permits Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas continues. A key feature of the bill which is of particular relevance to the horticulture sector is the proposed introduction of the Seasonal Employment Permit (SEP). The planned timeline is for the Seasonal Employment Permit to be introduced on a pilot basis in the summer of 2025 with a limited number of pre-registered Approved Seasonal Employers, to provide a defined number of SEPs in the horticulture sector. Ireland has long been an outlier in not providing a seasonal permit.