Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2026
223. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the total number of work visas and the critical skill visas issued by his Department in each of the past ten years, in tabular form. [66900/26]
View answerIreland operates a managed employment permits system designed to address skills and labour shortages while protecting employment opportunities for suitably qualified Irish and EEA workers. The system facilitates the recruitment of non-EEA nationals where genuine labour market needs exist and where all statutory criteria set out in the Employment Permits Act 2024 and associated Regulations are met.
The table below sets out the total number of employment permits issued, including the number of Critical Skills Employment Permits issued, in each of the past ten years.
Employment permit statistics, including monthly and annual data, are published on the Department's website.
|
Permit Type |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|
Total |
9,376 |
11,361 |
13,388 |
16,152 |
16,363 |
16,283 |
39,962 |
30,979 |
39,398 |
31,153 |
28,703 |
|
Critical Skills Employment Permit |
3,596 |
5,110 |
5,864 |
7,585 |
8,199 |
9,435 |
21,448 |
15,673 |
17,168 |
11,271 |
9,078 |
