I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 and 166 together.
The Employment Permits Section of my Department informs me that on 24th October 2022 the application concerned (in the details supplied) was refused and on 21st November 2022 a request for a review of the refusal reasons in this case was also refused.
The reasons for the refusal of the application (and the review) were that an advertisement for the employment was not placed with the Department of Social Protection/EURES for 28 days during the 90 days preceding the application and not placed in a national newspaper and in a local newspaper or on a website for three days. The requirements in relation to the Labour Market Needs Test are set out in employment permit regulations and as such must be fully adhered to as the current legislation provides no discretion where there is a failure to carry it out correctly.
The refusal to grant an employment permit does not preclude the applicant from submitting another application for an employment permit. Such an application must comply with all of the legislative requirements for the particular employment permit type. Therefore, in order to obtain an employment permit for the non-EEA national concerned the employer is required to submit new General Employment Permit application after carrying out a valid Labour Market Needs Test for the employment.
Information in relation to the Labour Market Needs Test is available on the Department’s website and can be accessed through this link enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Workplace-and-Skills/Employment-Permits/Employment-Permit-Eligibility/Labour-Market-Needs-Test/.
A Checklist Document has been prepared to assist applicants when applying for a General Employment Permit application and this can be accessed on the Department’s website at enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/General-Employment-Permits-Checklist.pdf.
There is no provision under the Employment Permits legalisation for the provision of temporary employment permits for occupations that do not qualify for a Critical Skills employment permit.
Applications for employment permits are dealt with in date order. Applicants can keep track of Employment Permit applications current processing dates at enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Workplace-and-Skills/Employment-Permits/Current-Application-Processing-Dates/.If a permit is urgently required, an applicant may request to have an application expedited. A request to have an application expedited will only be considered in exceptional cases and must be accompanied by a compelling business case which details the individual circumstances involved.
