Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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167. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he would acknowledge that a large number of SMEs in Ireland are struggling to meet demand because they cannot recruit or retain employees with the necessary skillsets within Ireland; to confirm the number of overseas employees over the past five years who have been recruited in managerial and customer facing rolls, in tabular form; the plans his Department has to work with SMEs to alleviate these difficulties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23262/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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According to the latest employment figures from the CSO’s Labour Force Survey, published on 22nd February 2024, total employment stood at 2.71 million. There are now more people employed in Ireland than ever before. As per the CSO Statistical Release on Monthly Unemployment from early May, the seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 4.4% in April 2024.

It is essential that Irish SMEs have access to an adequate pool of high quality, adaptable and flexible talent – in particular in the context of a tightened labour market. In order to meet the demand for skills, there is close collaboration across Government, in particular between the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, its agencies and my own Department, as well as between Government, industry, and the education and training system, in order to build and retain a highly skilled workforce to serve the needs of the economy, including SMEs.

My Department operates the Government’s employment permits system which is highly responsive to areas of identified skills needs and labour shortages across the economy. The system is, by design, vacancy led and driven by the changing needs of the labour market. The employment permits system is managed through the operation of the critical skills and ineligible occupations lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for consideration for an employment permit.

In December 2023, following extensive engagement with industry representatives and stakeholders on the nature and extent of skills shortages, my Department announced a major expansion to the employment permits system, with 43 changes to the jobs eligible for an employment permit. This included 11 roles added to the Critical Skills Occupations List and 32 roles made eligible for a General Employment Permit. A roadmap for increasing salary thresholds was also announced. Demand for employment permits in Ireland is currently extremely high, with just over 30,000 permits issued in 2023 and 9,832 issued in Q1 2024, providing another valuable stream of skilled labour for the Irish economy.

In the context of a tight labour market, Ireland has welcomed record numbers of people from across the world to meet the demand for skills. Between 2021Q1 and 2023Q4, 165,100 non-Irish nationals (a third of whom are EU nationals) have found work in Ireland, accounting for almost two-thirds of total employment growth during this time. The majority of recent arrivals are employed in highly skilled ICT, healthcare, and finance roles. Data on employment by citizenship is available from the Central Statistics Office since 2021, but a breakdown by managerial and customer facing roles is not available. Ireland is renowned for developing and nurturing talent and is an attractive destination for internationally mobile, highly skilled workers. Today, 20% of Ireland’s workforce are non-Irish nationals, over half of whom come from other EU countries.

The Government continues to support the economy by creating the right environment for employment creation, including employment at SMEs. My Department continues to implement the actions set out in the White Paper on Enterprise, published December 2022, to enable a vibrant, resilient, sustainable and regionally-balanced economy made up of a diversified mix of leading global companies, internationally competitive Irish enterprise and thriving local businesses. Its vision is to ensure Irish-based enterprise succeeds through competitive advantage founded on sustainability, innovation and productivity, delivering rewarding jobs and livelihoods.

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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168. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has any concerns regarding the costs trajectory on business as a result of the proposed roadmap for increasing minimum annual remuneration thresholds for employment permits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23261/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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In December 2023, my Department introduced a Roadmap, up to January 2026, for increasing the minimum annual thresholds for employment permits. The first adjustments were introduced on 17 January this year. The thresholds for most employment permits had not changed in almost a decade and were out of date, having not kept pace with wage inflation since 2014.

The purpose of the minimum salary increases is to ensure economic migrants have a sufficient means to live in Ireland given its high cost-of-living and to allow them to qualify for the minimum threshold for family reunification. It recognises the valuable contribution economic migrants make to this country.

It is important to stress that the purpose of the Employment Permits System is to assist economic growth by facilitating the filling of key skills gaps which cannot be filled from the domestic/EEA labour market, rather than facilitating access to cheap labour.

However, in recognition of the challenges businesses are facing with increasing costs, the implementation of further increases across the remainder of the Roadmap is under review and will be subject to ongoing stakeholder consultation with employers, employee advocacy groups and relevant Government Departments.