Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 October 2025
40. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the assessments his Department has carried out, or plans to carry on, in respect of the impact of student and employment residency permits on housing pressures in the State. [53806/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department works closely with the Economic Migration Policy Unit of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which is responsible for overseeing reviews of the the occupations lists for employment permits process that applies to non-European Economic Area workers.
It is important to note that the employment permit system is an important source of skilled labour for many industries, including the development and construction industries. My Department also works with the Student Accommodation Unit of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, including with respect to policies to provide new student accommodation.
In terms of the broader task of understanding how migration flows, inward and outward, shaping housing demand, my Department works with the Economic and Social Research Institute to undertake and publish projections of structural housing demand. The models used for this research does not disaggregate specific categories of migrants, such as students or non-European Economic Area workers, however it does include projections of international migration under several scenarios.
The latest iteration of this research informs the revised National Planning Framework and related work in my Department.
