12. (1) Section 10 of the Act of 2006 is amended by substituting the following subsections for subsection (2):

“(2) Subject to subsections (2A) and (2B), an employment permit shall not be granted unless the Minister is satisfied that on the date the application for the employment permit was made 50 per cent or more of the employees of—

(a) the person who has made the offer of employment,

(b) in the case of an application referred to in section 4(2)(a), the contractor or the relevant person concerned,

(c) in the case of an application referred to in section 4(2)(b), the connected person concerned, or

(d) in the case of an application referred to in section 4(2)(c), the person party to the arrangement referred to in that section who made the offer of employment,

are nationals of any of the following:

(i) one or more Member States of the EEA;

(ii) the Swiss Confederation;

(iii) a combination of any of the states referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii).

(2A) In the case of an application for an employment permit in respect of the purpose referred to in paragraph (a), (c) or (d) of section 3A(2), subsection (2) shall not apply to such application where—

(a) the person who has made the offer of employment or, as the case may be, the connected person has been registered with the Revenue Commissioners for a period not exceeding 2 years on the day the application is made,

(b) an enterprise development agency has made a recommendation referred to in section 3B in respect of that application, and

(c) the Minister is satisfied that, having 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.

(2B) In the case of an application for an employment permit in respect of the purpose referred to in paragraph (b), (c), (f) or (h) of section 3A(2), subsection (2) shall not apply to such application where—

(a) on the day on which the application is made the person referred to in subsection (2)(a) has no employees,

(b) the foreign national in respect of whom the application for the grant of the employment permit is made will be the sole employee of the person referred to in subsection (2)(a) on the date on which the employment that is the subject of the application is to commence, and

(c) the Minister is satisfied that having regard to the employment in respect of which the application is made, the foreign national concerned will be the sole employee of the employer concerned,

and the person making the application shall, in addition to any information required under section 6 or as may be specified in regulations under section 29 in respect of an application, provide the Minister with any information and documents the Minister may require to satisfy himself or herself of the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (c).”.

(2) Section 10(3) of the Act of 2006 is amended—

(a) by substituting “This section and section 10A are” for “This section is”,

(b) by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) in respect of section 10A, supplementary to Regulation (EU) No. 492/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on freedom of movement for workers within the Union²,”,

and

(c) in paragraph (b), by substituting “and are” for “and is”.