Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 March 2025
159. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice if he will alter the work permits scheme for healthcare assistants to lower the income thresholds, to allow them bring family members into the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6606/25]
View answerI can assure the Deputy that I recognise the enormous contribution to the Irish health service and Irish society made by Nurses from outside the EU. I also understand that people are eager to have their families join them in Ireland.
The issuing of employment permits, and the setting of relevant salary thresholds, is a matter for the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment who seek to ensure that workers are employed at a sustainable earnings level.
A review of the Department of Justice Policy Document for Non-EEA Family Reunification, which was last amended in 2016, is examining a wide range of matters relating to applications for family reunification, including the nature and suitability of current income thresholds and waiting periods. My Department has consulted with a wide variety of stakeholders and the expectation is that the review will be brought to a conclusion in the coming months.
While I fully understand that people moving to Ireland to live and work would wish to have their family join them, the issues to be examined as part of a family reunification application are complex. An important consideration in all family reunification applications, for example, is the ability of the sponsor to demonstrate a clear capacity to provide for their family member or members if they are to be granted a permission to come to Ireland.
I can also advise that, with effect from 15 May 2024, the first stage of the review was implemented in that eligible spouses and partners of General Employment Permit and Intra-Corporate Transfer Irish Employment Permit holders, who have applied for and been granted family reunification, in accordance with the Non-EEA Family Reunification Policy, are now registered on a Stamp 1G permission, rather than a Stamp 3. This allows the holder to take up employment without the need to obtain a separate Employment Permit of their own.
