Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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39. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will urgently revise the critical skills occupations list that his Department uses to determine applications for critical skills employment permits to reflect the fact that there is a national deficit in skilled construction workers, particularly in the ‘wet trades’; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50517/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that the roles of "wet trades" such as bricklaying, plastering, tiling, and painting/decorating are not listed on the Critical Skills Occupations List (CSOL). However, this does not mean they are ineligible for an employment permit. These roles are eligible for a General Employment Permit (GEP).

Where a role is not listed as an ineligible occupation on the Ineligible Occupations List (IOL) it can be considered for a General Employment Permit. In the 2023 Review of the Occupations Lists, a number of construction occupations were removed from the IOL. As a result of this, the roles of bricklaying, plastering, tiling, and painting/decorating are all eligible for a General Employment Permit.

The Minimum Annual Remuneration for all of these roles for a General Employment Permit is €34,000. The Minimum Annual Remuneration is the minimum annual salary, based on a 39-hour week, for which an employment permit can issue. Where the weekly hours are greater than 39, the Minimum Annual Remuneration must increase on a pro-rata basis.

Roles included on the CSOL are eligible for the Critical Skills Employment Permit subject to the criteria applying to this permit type which includes a Minimum Annual Remuneration of €38,000 where the non-EEA national holds a degree-level qualification or €64,000 without the need for a degree qualification.

The Occupations Lists are subject to periodic reviews, which include public consultation inviting evidence-based submissions from all sectors. Each review takes account of research undertaken by SOLAS's Skills and Labour Market Research Unit and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, a public consultation process, input from the relevant policy departments and the Economic Migration Inter-Departmental Group.

An occupation could potentially be considered to be added to the CSOL where evidence supports that there is not enough suitable Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work. If labour market conditions change such that there is not enough availability of suitably skilled workers within the EEA for a specific occupation, an evidenced-based submission from that sector may be submitted to my Department for consideration to the review of the Occupations Lists.

Submissions for the current review closed on Friday, 19th of September, and the outcome of that review will be made public in the coming months.