Employment Permits Act 2024
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Discretionary grounds for refusal of employment permit | ||
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33. (1) The Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit if— | ||
(a) the applicant for the permit has failed to provide any information required by or under this Act in respect of the application for the permit or has failed to provide any information, documents or evidence required by or under this Act in respect of the application within the period specified in regulations under section 50 , | ||
(b) subject to section 12 (12), the application has not been accompanied by the prescribed fee, | ||
(c) the foreign national or the person who made the offer of employment, or in the case of an application in respect of— | ||
(i) a contract for service employment permit, the contractor, subcontractor or the relevant person, | ||
(ii) an intra-company transfer employment permit, the connected person, or | ||
(iii) a foreign national who is employed under a contract of employment referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “contract of employment”, the employment agency with whom the foreign national has entered into that contract of employment, | ||
has been convicted of an offence under this Act or an enactment specified in Schedule 1 during the period of 5 years ending on the date of the application, | ||
(d) in the opinion of the Minister, the granting of the permit would be manifestly inconsistent with economic policy for the time being of the Government, | ||
(e) subject to subsection (2), the following 2 conditions are satisfied: | ||
(i) a period of less than a period to be prescribed (which period shall be not less than 6 and not more than 12 months) has elapsed since the foreign national concerned first commenced employment in the State pursuant to an employment permit granted to him or her; | ||
(ii) the application is made within the period referred to in subparagraph (i) and on the date of the application— | ||
(I) the employment permit referred to in subparagraph (i) is in force, or | ||
(II) the employment permit referred to in subparagraph (i) has been cancelled, in accordance with section 43 , within the period referred to in subparagraph (i), | ||
(f) in the opinion of the Minister, it is in the public interest to do so, | ||
(g) a material misrepresentation in respect of the application has been made by the applicant, | ||
(h) a forged or fraudulent document has been submitted in respect of the application, | ||
(i) the foreign national concerned lands or has landed, or is or has been, in the State without permission, | ||
(j) the foreign national in respect of whom the application is made— | ||
(i) has landed in the State with the permission of the Minister for Justice but has not been given the permission referred to in section 8 (1)(f) by the Minister for Justice, and | ||
(ii) was, on the date the application was made— | ||
(I) employed by the person who made the offer of employment that is the subject of the application, or | ||
(II) employed by another person on that date, | ||
without an employment permit or the permission referred to in section 8 (1)(f), | ||
(k) the foreign national in respect of whom the application is made had been in employment in the State prior to the making of the application without an employment permit or permission of the Minister for Justice referred to in section 8 (1)(f), | ||
(l) the foreign national in respect of whom the application is made has landed in the State with the permission of the Minister for Justice and that permission is granted on the condition that the foreign national concerned shall not be in employment in the State, | ||
(m) the remuneration to be paid to the foreign national concerned in respect of the proposed weekly hours of work (whatever they may be) is less than the standard working week remuneration, | ||
(n) the skills, knowledge, and where appropriate, qualifications and experience, referred to in section 13 (b), are not required for, or relevant to, the employment concerned, | ||
(o) the Minister is satisfied that the foreign national concerned does not possess the qualifications, knowledge or skills for the employment concerned or the foreign national concerned does not have the appropriate level of experience required for the employment, or | ||
(p) the Minister is satisfied that the person identified in the application in accordance with section 12 (6), or as the case may be, the connected person, has failed to comply with any conditions attaching to the grant of an employment permit on a previous occasion. | ||
(2) In deciding whether or not to refuse an application under subsection (1)(e), the Minister shall have regard to whether any changes were made, subsequent to the grant of the employment permit referred to in subsection (1)(e)(i), to the conditions of employment of the foreign national to whom the permit was granted. | ||
(3) The Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit where the application is in respect of an employment that, having regard to the different purposes referred to in section 9 (2), does not fall within the purpose in respect of which the application was made or is an employment that is specified in regulations under section 47 in respect of a different purpose. | ||
(4) The Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit if— | ||
(a) the foreign national in respect of whom the application is made is not registered with, or | ||
(b) the qualifications of the foreign national concerned are not recognised by, | ||
a regulatory body or a Minister of Government as required in any regulations made under section 47 (2)(f) or (10). | ||
(5) In the case of an application for an intra-company transfer employment permit, the Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit if— | ||
(a) in the opinion of the Minister, the connected person or the foreign employer has not, or both of them have not, made appropriate arrangements— | ||
(i) to provide appropriate accommodation and board, or either of them, for the foreign national during the period in which he or she is in the State to carry out duties for, or participate in a training programme provided by the connected person, or | ||
(ii) to provide appropriate health insurance in respect of the foreign national should he or she require medical treatment for illness or injury during the period for which he or she will be in the State pursuant to the employment permit, | ||
(b) the Minister is satisfied that the health insurance provided by the person referred to in paragraph (b)(iii)(II) of section 3 (1) does not have the same, or similar, effect as the health insurance provided by a health insurer, or | ||
(c) the Minister is satisfied that the carrying out of the duties, or the participation in the training programme, by the foreign national is not appropriate to the requirements of the connected person. | ||
(6) In the case of an application for a contract for service employment permit, the Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit if— | ||
(a) in the opinion of the Minister, the contractor or the subcontractor, as the case may be, has not made appropriate arrangements— | ||
(i) to provide appropriate accommodation and board, or either of them, for the foreign national while he or she is in the State to perform the duties arising from the contract service agreement, or | ||
(ii) to provide appropriate health insurance in respect of the foreign national should he or she require medical treatment for illness or injury during the period for which he or she will be in the State pursuant to the employment permit, | ||
or | ||
(b) the Minister is satisfied that the health insurance provided by a person referred to in paragraph (b)(iii)(II) of section 3 (1) does not have the same, or similar, effect as the health insurance provided by a health insurer. | ||
(7) In the case of an application for a seasonal employment permit, the Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit if, in the opinion of the Minister, the approved seasonal employer has not made appropriate arrangements— | ||
(a) to provide appropriate accommodation for the foreign national during the period for which he or she will be in the State pursuant to the employment permit, or | ||
(b) to provide, without any cost to the foreign national, appropriate health insurance in respect of the foreign national should he or she require medical treatment for illness or injury during the period for which he or she will be in the State pursuant to the employment permit. | ||
(8) The Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit if he or she is satisfied that the person identified in the application in accordance with section 12 (6)— | ||
(a) is a company within the meaning of the Companies Act 2014 , and does not comply with any requirement relating to the registration of the company pursuant to that Act, | ||
(b) does not comply with any requirement relating to the registration of the business name of that person pursuant to the Act of 1963, | ||
(c) is a limited partnership referred to in the Limited Partnerships Act 1907, and does not comply with any requirement relating to the registration of the limited partnership under that Act, | ||
(d) is an industrial and provident society within the meaning of the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1893 to 2021, and does not comply with any requirement relating to the registration of the society pursuant to those Acts, | ||
(e) is a friendly society within the meaning of the Friendly Societies Acts 1896 to 2021, and does not comply with any requirement relating to the registration of the society pursuant to those Acts, or | ||
(f) is a trade union within the meaning of the Trade Union Acts 1871 to 1990, and does not comply with any requirement relating to the registration of that trade union under those Acts. | ||
(9) The Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit in the case of an application for— | ||
(a) a reactivation employment permit, where— | ||
(i) a reactivation employment permit had previously been granted and had expired before the application was made and no application for renewal was made in respect of that employment permit, and | ||
(ii) the Minister is satisfied that it is in the public interest to refuse to grant the employment permit, | ||
(b) a sports and cultural employment permit, where, having consulted with a person referred to in section 17 , the Minister is satisfied that the employment that is the subject of the application concerned is not appropriate for the development and operation of sporting, or, as the case may be, cultural activities in the State, | ||
(c) an exchange agreement employment permit, where the Minister is satisfied that— | ||
(i) the exchange agreement concerned does not apply to the foreign national in respect of whom the application is made, or, without prejudice to section 32 (7), the employment in respect of which the application is made, or | ||
(ii) without prejudice to section 32 (7), the employment in respect of which the application is made does not come within the exchange agreement, | ||
and | ||
(d) a dependant employment permit, where, in the opinion of the Minister, the requirements of section 14 (2) or, as the case may be, section 14 (3) have not been met. | ||
(10) In the case of an application for an internship employment permit, the Minister may refuse to grant an employment permit where— | ||
(a) the Minister is satisfied that— | ||
(i) the foreign national concerned is not a full-time student enrolled in a third level institution outside the State, | ||
(ii) the course of study concerned is not wholly or substantially concerned with the qualifications or skills referred to in section 9 (2)(i), or | ||
(iii) the employment in respect of which the application is made is not wholly or substantially concerned with the skills or qualifications referred to in subparagraph (ii), | ||
(b) the Minister is not satisfied that there is a shortage of those qualifications or skills, or | ||
(c) the Minister is satisfied there are reasonable grounds for believing that, at the end of the period referred to in section 9 (2)(i), the foreign national may not return to the institution outside the State in which he or she is enrolled to complete the course of study concerned. |