Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014
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Insertion into Act of 2006 of new section 10A | ||
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13. The Act of 2006 is amended by inserting the following section after section 10: | ||
“Establishing need for grant of certain employment permits | ||
10A. (1) This section applies to an application for an employment permit in respect of the purpose specified in section 3A(2)(c) or 3A(2)(e). | ||
(2) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), the Minister shall not grant an employment permit referred to in subsection (1) unless the Minister is satisfied that a notice of the offer of the employment that is the subject of the application has been published in accordance with this section before the application referred to in subsection (1) is made and the application is made within the period referred to in subsection (5). | ||
(3) Where an application referred to in subsection (1) is made— | ||
(a) the person who makes the offer of employment concerned, or | ||
(b) in the case of an application under section 4(2)(a), the contractor, | ||
shall satisfy the Minister that he or she has, before making the application, offered the employment in respect of which the application is made to— | ||
(i) a citizen, or | ||
(ii) a foreign national referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 2(10) of the Act of 2003 or a person entitled to be in employment in the State pursuant to the European Union (Accession of the Republic of Croatia) (Access to the Labour Market) Act 2013 , | ||
by causing a notice of the offer of the employment concerned to be published in accordance with subsection (4). | ||
(4) The person referred to in subsection (3)(a) or, as the case may be, the contractor referred to in subsection (3)(b) — | ||
(a) shall cause the notice referred to in subsection (3) to be published— | ||
(i) in at least one national newspaper circulating in the State, | ||
(ii) on one or more websites, as may be specified in regulations under this section, the principal purpose of which is to publish offers of employments to citizens and foreign nationals referred to in subsection (3)(ii), and | ||
(iii) in, or on, one of the following: | ||
(I) at least one newspaper circulating in the area in which the employment is to be carried out, or | ||
(II) at least one website, other than a website referred to in subparagraph (ii), the principal purpose of which is to publish offers of employment, | ||
(b) shall, in respect of the publication of that notice on a website referred to in paragraph (a)(ii), place the notice referred to in subsection (3) for publication with one or more persons, as may be specified in regulations under this section, | ||
(c) shall publish the notice referred to in subsection (3) in accordance with paragraph (a) for a period that is not less than the period, as may be specified in regulations under this section, for which the notice is to be published, and | ||
(d) may, in addition to the publication under paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), publish the notice in such other manner as may be specified in regulations under this section. | ||
(5) Where, following the publication of the notice referred to in subsection (3), an application referred to in subsection (1) is made under section 4, that application shall be made within the number of days, as may be specified by the Minister in regulations under this section, from the day on which that notice was first published on a website referred to in subsection (4)(a)(ii). | ||
(6) Subsection (2) shall not apply to an application referred to in subsection (1) where— | ||
(a) an enterprise development agency has made a recommendation referred to in section 3B in respect of the application, and | ||
(b) the Minister is satisfied that, having had regard to such recommendation, granting the employment permit that is the subject of the application concerned will contribute to the further development of employment in the State. | ||
(7) Subsection (2) shall not apply to an application referred to in subsection (1) where— | ||
(a) the Minister is satisfied that, having regard to section 15(1)(d), there is a shortage of the skills referred to in section 15(1)(d) required for that employment and the Minister has, in regulations made under section 14(6), specified the employment as an employment to which subsection (2) shall not apply, | ||
(b) the application is made in respect of a foreign national to whom section 20B applies and is an application referred to in section 20B(4), or | ||
(c) the application is made in respect of an employment— | ||
(i) for a carer of a person with exceptional medical needs and— | ||
(I) the foreign national, in respect of whom that application is made, has been providing care to the person before the application was made, and | ||
(II) that person has developed a high level of dependence on that foreign national, | ||
and | ||
(ii) that is not specified in regulations under section 14 as an employment for which, or a category of employment in respect of which, an employment permit shall not be granted, | ||
and the Minister is satisfied that, having regard to the circumstances of that person and that foreign national, it is not appropriate to publish a notice of the offer of that employment. | ||
(8) The Minister may, without prejudice to the generality of section 29(1), make regulations under this subsection for the publication of the notice referred to in subsection (3), that is required to be carried out before an application for the grant of an employment permit referred to in subsection (1) is made, to provide for— | ||
(a) one or more persons with whom such notice shall be placed for publication on a website referred to in subsection (4)(a)(ii) where such person or persons own or operate the website or publish notices on such website, | ||
(b) one or more websites, referred to in subsection (4)(a)(ii), on which such notice is to be published, | ||
(c) the duration of the period, referred to in subsection (4)(c), for which such notice shall be published— | ||
(i) in a newspaper referred to in subsection (4), | ||
(ii) on a website referred to in subsection (4)(a)(ii) which shall be not less than 14 days, and | ||
(iii) on a website referred to in subsection (4)(a)(iii), | ||
which the Minister considers to be sufficient to afford an opportunity to citizens and the foreign nationals referred to in subsection (3)(ii) to apply for the employment concerned, | ||
(d) the publication referred to in subsection (4)(d) of such notice, including the period for the publication of such notice, and different provision may be made for different classes of publication for any such notice including publication by electronic means and different provision may be made for such publication of the offer of employment to citizens and foreign nationals referred to in subsection (3)(ii), | ||
(e) the form, procedure for and the manner in which the publication of the offer of employment, referred to in subsection (2), to citizens and foreign nationals referred to in subsection (3)(ii) is to be made, | ||
(f) the number of days within which the application referred to in subsection (1) shall be made after the day the notice referred to in subsection (3) is first published on a website referred to in subsection (4)(a)(ii), | ||
(g) information and documents as the Minister may require to satisfy himself or herself that the notice was published in accordance with this section and the application was made within the period referred to in subsection (4) and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing such information and documents may include— | ||
(i) information and documents demonstrating that the notice was placed with the persons specified by the Minister in regulations under that section, and | ||
(ii) documents identifying that the notice was published in a newspaper and a website as required under that section, | ||
and | ||
(h) evidence that the Minister may reasonably require in order to verify any information or documents to be furnished to the Minister pursuant to this section. | ||
(9) Before publishing a notice referred to in subsection (3) the person who makes the offer of employment, or, as the case may be, the contractor, shall ensure that the employment is specified in regulations under this Act as being an employment for which an employment permit may be granted. | ||
(10) The Minister may make enquiries to satisfy himself or herself that the person referred to in subsection (3)(a) or the contractor referred to in subsection (3)(b) has complied with subsection (3). | ||
(11) Section 10(3) applies to this section.”. |