Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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387. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the review of the critical skills occupations list and ineligible occupations list will take into consideration the availability of housing in addition to the needs of the labour market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51760/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Ireland operates a managed employment permits system, maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The regime is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills or labour shortages in the State in the short to medium term. This objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish or EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is genuine.

The employment permits system is managed through the operation of the Critical Skills Occupation List and the Ineligible Occupations List. These lists, respectively, set out skills that are in high demand or are employments that are not eligible for consideration for an employment permit.

A significant number of occupations have recently been added to the Critical Skills Occupations List and others have been made eligible through their removal from the Ineligible Occupations List. As a result, that almost all roles in the construction sector are now eligible for employment permits.

Highly skilled occupations including engineers, site managers, BIM managers, architects, estimators, and façade designers are all eligible for the Critical Skills Employment Permit.

Other construction roles such as electricians, masons, roofers, roof tilers & slaters, plumbers, heating & ventilating engineers, carpenters & joiners, floorers & wall tilers, painters & decorators, construction & building trades supervisors, bricklayers and plasterers are all eligible for a General Employment Permit.

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. I can confirm that my department has received submissions in relation to the occupations in the construction sector.