Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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200. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied); and if clarity on this matter will be provided. [36899/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My attention has been drawn to the case of the person concerned who applied for an employment permit to my Department. Responses to representations made by the person have included information regarding the requirements under the employment permits legislation, most recently on 12 June.

The Labour Market Needs Test (LMNT) is a legal requirement under the Employment Permits legislation applying to all sectors of employment and designed to ensure that job vacancies are first offered to nationals of Ireland, the EEA, the UK or the Swiss Confederation.

It requires employers to advertise a vacancy for at least 28 days on the broad employment platforms JobsIreland and EURES, and at least one other online employment platform chosen at the discretion of the employer. Under the legislation, placing a vacancy on the Public Appointments Service employment platform in addition to these two platforms accessible to the wider public, would be considered appropriate.

The JobsIreland and EURES platforms are Public Employment Services operated by the Department of Social Protection providing job advertising services to employers enabling Irish and EEA job seekers the opportunity to search for employment across all sectors. JobsIreland is a free service, while some EURES services are at no cost. The use of these employment services by employers in their advertising of applicable roles is not optional under the Employment Permits legislation.

Following the LMNT process, if no suitably qualified candidate can be found within Ireland/the EEA, it is open to the employer to apply for an employment permit.

There are no plans to alter the LMNT requirements for occupations where it is required. I note that there is nothing to preclude ETBs from advertising posts on JobsIreland and EURES as well as their usual advertising platforms.