Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
439. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the engagement his Department has had with other Government Departments in relation to improving the delivery of the work permit system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27454/23]
View answerMy Department actively responds to the concerns raised by various sectors of the economy with regard to the critical short supply of skills in a number of roles. This has been highlighted by the number of amendments made to the Employment Permits Regulations over the last two years, with sectors, including the health sector, provided with increased access to employment permits.
Changes brought about to improve the delivery and effectiveness of the Employment Permits system are made following constructive engagement and consultation with relevant policy Departments as well as a review of the workforce challenges in the sectors in question.
For example, in December 2022 my Department announced the opening of a quota of 1,500 employment permits for the role of bus and coach drivers which was agreed following consultation with the Department of Transport.
Also in 2022, following constructive engagement between my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the quota of General Employment Permits for the role of dairy farm assistant was increased by 500. This served to alleviate the pressures being faced by farmers in the dairy sector, who have struggled to source workers in the local economy.
Access to the General Employment Permit for the role of health care assistant was announced in June 2021 to address skills and labour shortages in the healthcare and nursing home sector. More recently, further changes introduced the opening of a quota of 1,000 General Employment Permits for the role of home carers in response to the severe shortage of workers in the sector.
The measures in respect of healthcare assistants and home care workers follow the establishment of the cross-departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group and its report published at the end of last year, tasked to examine strategic workforce challenges in publicly and privately provided frontline healthcare roles in home care and long-term residential care for older people.
An additional change made to alleviate workforce challenges in the health sector was the creation of a new permission for non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHD), introduced following engagement with the Department of Justice and the Department of Health. Non-EEA doctors already in the State for 21 months or more with a General Employment Permit may now apply for a new permission granting them the right to work without a permit. Their spouses or partners also receive a permission to work.
A public consultation launching the next Review of the Occupations Lists will take place in the coming weeks. The Review will take into account submissions made through the consultation process and will also be informed by research undertaken by labour market policy research bodies such as the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) and SOLAS, a State further education policy agency. The views of the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group, which is chaired by this Department, will be central to the review process.
