The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) has confirmed that it is currently not accepting any new employment permit applications for dairy farm assistants.
Damien English, Minister of State at the DETE, has indicated that 100 general employment permits for dairy farm assistants have been granted.
In response to a parliamentary question lodged by the TD for Cork North Central, Colm Burke, the minister said that any new applications for employment permits for dairy farm assistants would “be returned”.
In his parliamentary question Burke had asked the minister to outline what the current position was in relation to new employment permit applications for dairy farm assistants.
The Cork TD had highlighted in his correspondence that dairy farmers were having difficulty in recruiting employees.
Burke asked the DETE to detail if it would accept new employment permit applications for dairy farm assistants.
But the minister has ruled this out.
In a written response to the deputy, the minister stated:
“Ireland operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market.
“The system is designed to accommodate the arrival of non-EEA (European Economic Area) nationals to fill skills and labour gaps for the benefit of our economy, in the short to medium term, and is managed through the operation of the critical skills and ineligible occupations lists which determine roles that are either in critical short supply or are ineligible for an employment permit.”
Minister Burke said that because of continued labour shortages in the agriculture and agri-food sector in 2021, he had announced a new quota of 100 general employment permits for dairy farm assistants subject to a minimum annual remuneration of €30,000.
He also detailed that all agriculture quotas “were opened with a proviso that a strategic review on labour attraction and retention in the sector is carried out in order to put in place more sustainable solutions” for meeting the labour needs of the sector into the future.
The minister told Burke in his reponse that:
“All of the 100 general employment permits established under this quota for dairy farm assistants have now been granted.
“Therefore, any new applications received in respect of this role will be returned,” he said.
But he confirmed that the occupations lists “undergo periodic review and a public/stakeholder consultation”.
He said the department continues to keep the employment permits system under review “in light of changing labour market circumstances” and the timing of the next review of the occupational lists will be kept under consideration.