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The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke TD, today (Wednesday) announced that they have secured Government agreement for a number of key actions to increase the competitiveness of Ireland in attracting the skills and talent the economy needs.
These include enabling all eligible spouses and partners of employment permit holders to work if they are already in the State and are granted permission to live in Ireland with their family member. They also include agreement to begin to roll out a single permit to both work and live in Ireland. Implementing a single permit will eventually allow Ireland to opt into the EU’s Single Permit Directive.
Both of these measures will significantly enhance Ireland’s ability to compete internationally to attract talent, addressing skills shortages in our economy and promoting economic growth.
Minister McEntee explained:
“I am delighted to have secured approval to implement a single permit for both residence and employment permits to attract the vital skills our economy needs in sectors such as healthcare and construction. At the moment, you have to apply to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for a work permit, and then you have to go to the Department of Justice to apply for a visa. By introducing a single permission, we can reduce the cost and complexity for both employers and applicants of having to separately obtain employment and residence permits. This will ensure that we can respond effectively and quickly to meet the skills needs of the economy. My Department works closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to ensure that our economic migration arrangements are fair, efficient and responsive to the needs of Irish society and the economy and greater prosperity generally. This change is an example of proactive and positive engagement between two departments to benefit Ireland.”
Minister Burke added:
“Ireland’s ability to attract and retain skilled workers is increasingly important given the demographic challenges which face the whole of Europe with an aging population and sustained full employment in Ireland. I believe joining the Single Permit Directive and enabling spouses or partners of workers to also contribute to the economy will be key in ensuring that we can bring much needed skills and experience to the labour market across all sectors of the economy.”
Skills gaps affect all EU Member States, including Ireland. All EU Member States, except Ireland and Denmark, already operate a single permit for employment and residence. Other key partners, such as the UK and the US, also operate single application procedures and single permits. The current process requires separate applications and greater bureaucracy which risks putting Ireland at a competitive disadvantage in attracting skills and talent to the Irish economy. By opting in to the Single Permit Directive, the Government will remove barriers to attracting key skills into Ireland in important sectors such as healthcare and construction and reduce the cost and complexity of the current system, also ensuring that the process responds effectively and quickly to meet the skills needs of the economy.
Minister Burke continued:
“The changes we are announcing to enable work for the eligible spouses and partners of General Employment and Intra-Corporate Transferee Permit Holders will also ensure that Ireland attracts those skilled workers who might not otherwise come to Ireland if their spouse or partner cannot work, as well as ensuring that those spouses and partners can make a contribution to the economy. Currently, spouses or partners who are granted immigration permission as dependents of employment permits holders can only work if they are able to acquire a separate work permit. From today, this is now no longer necessary."
Minister McEntee added:
“Many spouses are skilled workers who have left significant jobs and roles to join their families here and wished to continue their careers in Ireland. Fundamentally, I saw this as a missed opportunity, which risked making Ireland less attractive for workers while limiting a person’s ability to contribute to the economy and provide for their family. These spouses and partners can now work immediately, and they will not be required to attend an immigration office to change their permission.”
Emer Higgins TD, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail stated:
“I welcome today’s announcement and I am confident that these measures will strengthen Ireland's appeal as a top destination for skilled international workers, addressing those critical gaps in vital sectors like healthcare and the construction workforce, which are in short supply globally. These measures will not only attract much needed talent but also enhance Ireland’s reputation as an attractive place to do business.”
Currently, the ability to work without a permit was only provided to spouses and partners of Critical Skills Employment Permit holders. This has now been extended to include General Employment Permit holders and Intra-Corporate Transferee Permit holders who are already in the State and who have been granted permission to live in Ireland with their family member. Current and future permit holders whose spouses or partners are not in the State will still need to apply for family reunification after 12 months as currently, although once such family reunification has been granted, those spouses or partners will also now be able to work without the need for a separate employment permit. The wider issue of family reunification waiting periods and other matters is currently the subject of an ongoing review of the Non-
EEA Family Reunification Policy.
This change will have an immediate positive impact for the economy and for spouses and partners who wish to work in Ireland, assisting them to contribute to the economy through taxation, to further integrate and to provide for their families.
The overall package of reforms announced today will, in addition to ensuring the long-term sustainability of our economy and addressing our future demographic challenges, also provide opportunities for skilled workers and their immediate families who contribute so much to our society to avail of legal pathways to live and work in Ireland.
Single Permit
On 13 December 2022, the Government approved, in principle, that a single permit for work and immigration permissions should be developed and implemented, subject to the consideration of an Inter-Departmental Working Group (IDWG). This group was established to examine the implications of a single permit; and to develop an implementation plan which would allow for the possibility of opting in to the Single Permit Directive. The IDWG has now reported back to Government that it is feasible to begin implementation of the single permit and to opt-in to the Directive.
The Single Permit Directive requires that the decision to issue, amend, renew or reject the single permit shall constitute a single administrative act combining a residence permit and an employment permit within a 90 day timeline. EU Member States, and countries such as Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, already operate a single application procedure for employment and residence permits. Today, the Government has agreed that implementation of the single permit should begin and that, in principle, Ireland should opt-in to the Directive. The opt-in will be subject to a further Government decision at the appropriate time.
The adoption of the Single Permit is expected to be completed over the course of the next three years. A programme management team will now be established between the Department of Justice and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, to commence implementation of the Single Permit. The programme is expected to be delivered on a phased basis, which will aim to streamline existing processes as a new application platform is developed with customer benefits in the shorter term, such as developing a single payment.
Changes for spouses and partners of employment permit holders
The requirement for eligible spouses and partners of General Employment and Intra-Corporate Transferee Permit holders to obtain a separate employment permit has from today been removed for spouses and de-facto partners who have been granted permission to remain in the State under the Department of Justice Non-EEA Family Reunification Policy, which is currently the subject of a separate review. They will not need to attend an immigration office to do so.
The Department of Justice has now granted eligible spouses and partners of these employment permit holders permission to reside in Ireland on Stamp 1G Conditions, which provides direct access to work without the need to obtain an employment permit.
The changes for spouses and partners of General Employment Permit holders and Intra-Corporate Transferee Permit Holders take immediate effect.
This change does not apply to spouses and de-facto partners who are residing in the State on other permissions such as visitors or for study.
Arrangements for eligible spouses/partners who already hold a ‘stamp 3’ permission
Spouses and de facto partners of persons who are currently resident in Ireland on Stamp 3 conditions do not need to attend their local immigration office and do not need to apply online to obtain a permission to reside on Stamp 1G conditions without the need for an employment permit.
A new Irish Residence Permit on Stamp 1G conditions will be issued to eligible persons when they seek to renew their current permission upon its expiry.
Compliance with Employment Legislation
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is the state body responsible for ensuring compliance with employment legislation in Ireland. Inspectors of the WRC act as Authorised Officers for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the Employment Permits Acts including conducting workplace inspections. As part of this process (and in line with their statutory powers) WRC inspectors may require employers to produce relevant documentation in support of their application.
The WRC does not prosecute employees who breach the Employment Permits Acts as such persons working without permission are especially vulnerable to labour exploitation. The enforcement of employment permit legislation is a key component in the strategy to significantly reduce the incidence of undocumented work which leads to such exploitation.
15 May 2024