1053. Deputy Gillian Toole asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the formal collaborative processes that exist between his Department and the Department of Social Protection, to best match people on jobseeker’s payment with employers making applications for employment permits, across GEP, CSEP and trusted partner applications. [57677/26]

The employment permits system is designed to ensure that employment opportunities arising in the State are offered, in the first instance, to suitably qualified workers from Ireland and the wider European Economic Area (EEA), before employers seek to recruit workers from outside the EEA.

This policy is reflected in the operation of the Labour Market Needs Test, which is a key employment permit mechanism, facilitated by the engagement of my Department and the Department of Social Protection.

Where a Labour Market Needs Test is required, including for General Employment Permit applications, employers must advertise the vacancy through the Department of Social Protection’s Employment Services for a minimum of 28 days before a valid employment permit application can be made. Employers must also advertise the vacancy on at least one additional online platform for a minimum of 28 days.

The requirement to advertise vacancies through the Department of Social Protection’s Employment Services ensures that vacancies are made available to jobseekers in the domestic labour market, including persons in receipt of jobseeker payments, before an employer may seek to recruit a non-EEA national through a general employment permit.

In addition to this operational role, the Department of Social Protection contributes labour market intelligence and analysis through interdepartmental engagement on economic migration policy and reviews of the employment permits occupations lists. The outcome of the most recent review was published in May 2026. During this review process the Department of Social Protection provided information relating to the connection between submissions and their impact on labour activation and community employment schemes.

The Department’s Employer Relations Division was also consulted in order to ensure alignment with the National Employment Services Strategy Pathways to Work 2021-2025, and its successor strategy. This engagement ensures that decisions regarding occupations eligible for employment permits are informed by evidence regarding skills shortages and the availability of workers within the domestic labour market.

Collaboration between my Department and the Department of Social Protection takes place both operationally, through the Labour Market Needs Test and through ongoing engagement on labour market conditions, economic migration policy, and reviews of the occupations eligible for employment permits. This structured engagement is integral to the development of economic migration policy while prioritising labour market activation.