A big shakeup to Ireland's employment permit system

On 20 December 2023, Neale Richmond TD, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail announced the largest employment permit system expansion since its inception. The announcement includes 43 changes to the occupations lists for employment permits, making 32 new occupations eligible for a general employment permit and 11 new occupations eligible for a critical skills employment permit. A new roadmap for incrementally increasing the salary requirement for most employment permit types was also published.

These reforms may contribute to resolving some of the labour shortages many employers in Ireland have been experiencing over the past few years. They will also enable a greater range of employers to benefit from access to Ireland’s employment permit and immigration system.

Background

In June 2023, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment invited relevant stakeholders to submit evidence to support claims for certain occupations to be included on the critical skills occupations list or to be taken off the ineligible list of occupations for employment permits. However, until very recently, the only change of note came by way of the introduction of a new quota of general employment permits for electrical linespersons where 100 permits were approved to help alleviate the pressure on the ESB Networks’ overhead line framework contractors.

The recent announcement represents a more comprehensive outcome from this review.

Changes to the occupations lists for employment permits

In summary, 11 roles have been added to the critical skills occupations list and 32 roles have been removed from the ineligible list of occupations for employment permits, making them eligible for an employment permit so long as the other requirements are met.

The changes focus on supporting specific sectors experiencing labour shortages.

Construction: The construction sector benefits significantly from the removal of electricians, electrical engineers, electrical contractors, skilled metal, electrical and electronic trades supervisors and other construction-related occupations from the ineligible list, making them eligible for general employment permits. Additionally, BIM manager, BIM coordinator/technician, estimator, and commercial manager have been added to the critical skills occupation list. Project engineers and chemical engineers who may also play a role in the construction sector have been added to the critical skills occupations list.

Healthcare, Social Care and Disability Services: In a move which is counter to the UK’s recent announcement that care workers will no longer be permitted to be accompanied by their partners and children, a number of occupations in the care sector are now eligible for a general employment permit. This is notable as approximately 9,000 employment permits were issued to individuals in the healthcare sector in 2023 in Ireland alone. These numbers are likely to jump with the introduction of the following occupations which are now eligible for an employment permit:

• Senior care workers – in disability services.
• Residential day and domiciliary case managers – in disability services.
• Play therapist – in disability services.
• Genetic counsellor.
• Social care worker.
• Family support workers – in disability services.
• Project offices, disability.
• Support worker (social, community, public and charity).
• Guide dog mobility instructor for the visually impaired.
• Autism assistance dog instructor

In addition, the occupation of Optometrist (Ophthalmic Optician) has been added to the critical skills occupations list and is now eligible for a critical skills employment permit.

Car Maintenance, Transport, Logistics and Haulage: Occupations eligible for a general employment permit in these industries now include car, motor, and HGV mechanics, auto electricians, motor vehicle technicians, vehicle body builders and repairers, body shop panel beaters, vehicle paint technicians, and armature rewinder.

This is very welcome news as these industries are among the most short-staffed in Ireland as we saw with the allocation of 100 general employment permits to NCT testers earlier this year.

Meteorology: Occupations eligible for a critical skills employment permit now include resource modelling, earth observation and data analyst, meteorologist, and operational forecaster.

Horticulture: In addition to new quotas for horticulture workers (see below), specialty forestry harvesting technicians are now eligible for a general employment permit. Professional foresters have been added to the critical skills occupations list.

The above will support the current government’s Housing for All plan and National Development Plan and ensure further resources are made available to meet its targets under those respective plans.

Pharma/Life Sciences/Construction: Project engineers and chemical engineers have been added to the critical skills occupations list, making them eligible for a critical skills employment permit.

Food, Agri-Food and Agriculture: Niche roles in the agriculture sector, including butchers/deboners, bakers, pig managers and pig farm assistants are now eligible for general employment permits.

Craft: Certain craft production roles, such as upholstery and furniture operatives, furniture makers and other craft woodworkers, textile process operatives, wood machine operatives and saw doctor/wood machine mechanic are now eligible for general employment permits.

Changes to quotas for employment permits

The following occupations have had their general employment permit quotas extended with effect from January 2024:

Changes to minimum salary requirements for employment permits

There will be incremental increases in minimum salary requirements for various employment permit types. All general employment permits will see the minimum salary requirement gradually increase to €39,000 between January 2024 and January 2026.

Notably, the minimum salary requirement for a critical skills employment permit will rise to €44,000 if the applicant is required to hold a third-level degree relevant to the occupation. However, the higher salary threshold of €64,000 for a critical skills employment permit will remain unchanged.

Below is a detailed table setting out the current thresholds and incremental increases from 17 January 2024. The table also sets out what further changes are proposed to be made thereafter and until January 2026.

Note 1: Changes to salary requirements in 2024 will be effective from 17 January 2024. Furthermore, the figures provided for January 2025, July 2025 and January 2026 are preliminary and based on most recent CSO data and may be subject to change.

Note 2: For general employment permit applications, the Labour Market Needs Test is still required and will have to reflect the revised thresholds in order to be deemed valid.

Analysis of Minister Richmond's Announcement

Consultation submissions

Minister Richmond noted that over 121 submissions were received with over 350 changes of various types sought. Ultimately, more than 40 of those changes made the list with the Minister confirming that the other requests would continue to be considered on an “exceptional basis” where issues arose. Therefore, we may see further quotas granted for general employment permits for certain occupations in 2024.

Labour Market Needs Test

The Labour Market Needs Test is still required for general employment permit applications, and will have to reflect the revised thresholds in order to be deemed valid.

Family reunification

The salary thresholds for employment permits have not changed for some time and in many respects, have failed to keep pace with inflation and economic growth.

Of note, general employment permit holders have no immediate family reunification rights and may only apply for family reunification once they have completed 12 months employment in Ireland. However, to be eligible to sponsor family members for family reunification, the employment permit holder must be earning a minimum level of income, which changes depending on the number of family members seeking family reunification.

The new employment permit thresholds more closely align with family reunification thresholds. Indeed, Minister Richmond noted that this will be particularly important to healthcare assistants and home carers, perhaps giving some indication that some level of concern was raised in response to the UK’s recent announcement excluding the dependants of care workers.

Increasing salary thresholds

Through increasing salary thresholds, the Government aims to ensure that the value of the skills and experience non-EEA citizens bring to the workforce is adequately recognised, and that good quality employment opportunities are afforded to them.

However, the incremental increases in salary thresholds may dampen some of the optimism among employers experiencing labour shortages. The new salary requirements and the ones proposed to be introduced in January 2025 and January 2026 may be above the market rates for many occupations which are eligible for employment permits. Therefore, some employers may struggle to pay the higher employment costs. And so, despite having access to the employment permit system, they may be reluctant or prohibited from using it.

Many current employment permit holders will also need to renew their employment permit in 2024 and beyond, or may need to have their permission bridged to move onto a Stamp 4. Unless transitional arrangements are made available , they will need to meet the new salary requirements to be eligible to renew or bridge their permission.

At this late stage in the calendar year, many employers may have already agreed budgets for 2024, including employment costs. Employers may need to review and revise these projected costs in light of this recent announcement.

It will be interesting to see what impact the changes to the system will have on the uptake of employment permits and whether any further changes will be made in 2024. We will continue to monitor and analyse developments as further details are released.

For further information or support in relation to this recent announcement, please contact Declan Groarke.