Public Consultation Open for Proposed Employment Permit Scheme Changes
December 3, 2019
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At a Glance
- A six-week public consultation period for interested parties to submit their comments on the proposed changes to the Employment Permit scheme has now opened.
- Employers interested in making submissions can do so by emailing or mailing their comments by January 17, 2020.
- The proposed Bill does not represent a change in overall government policy. It consolidates the existing Employment Permit legislation and among other changes, proposes introducing a seasonal employment permit, an exceptional circumstances employment permit and revising the labour market needs test to make it more relevant and efficient.
- The government is expected to publish the final legislation in mid-2020.
The situation
The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation has opened a six-week public consultation period for interested parties and stakeholders to submit their comments on the proposed changes to the Employment Permit scheme published in November 2019.
A closer look
The proposed bill does not represent a change in overall government policy. It consolidates the existing Employment Permit legislation and suggests the below key changes:
- the introduction of a seasonal employment permit,
- revision of the labour market needs test to make it more relevant and efficient;
- the introduction of a scheme to deal with occasional exceptional circumstances where an Employment Permit may be granted despite not meeting all of the criteria for an existing Employment Permit type;
- streamlined requirements; and
- additional conditions for grant of an employment permit, such as training or accommodation support for migrant workers in some circumstances, or making innovation or upskilling a condition of grant, where this may decrease future reliance on economic migration.
Submission details
Employers interested in making submissions can do so by emailing [email protected] or by mailing their comments to the Economic Migration Policy Unit, Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Earlsfort Centre, Lower Hatch Street, Dublin 2, by January 17, 2020. Fragomen can assist with comment drafting and submission.
Fragomen will be submitting a consolidated submission from the Firm shortly.
Background
The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation often opens public consultation periods before changes to the Employment Permit system are made, to gather commentary from stakeholders in the immigration community. Comments are often taken into consideration and addressed by the government in its responses and final version of legislation.
Looking ahead
It is unclear when the government will publish its responses to the consultation, but it is expected to publish the final legislation in mid-2020. Fragomen will report when the new law is passed or other significant changes in immigration policy.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
