23. (1) Section 20 of the Act of 2006 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1) by—

(i) substituting “Subject to subsection (1A), the Minister” for “The Minister”, and

(ii) deleting “on application of the employer or, if the permit was granted on foot of an application by a foreign national, the holder of it,”,

(b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) An employment permit granted in respect of the purpose referred to in—

(a) section 3A(2)(d) in respect of an employment referred to in section 3A(2)(d)(ii), and

(b) section 3A(2)(i),

shall not be renewed.”,

and

(c) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) An application for the renewal of an employment permit—

(a) may be made by the holder of the employment permit concerned or the employer, or

(b) where the application for the grant of the employment permit was made—

(i) in accordance with section 4(2)(a), in respect of an employment referred to in subsection (3B) shall be made by the contractor concerned,

(ii) in accordance with section 4(2)(b), in respect of an employment referred to in subsection (3A) shall be made by the connected person concerned, or

(iii) in accordance with section 4(2)(c), shall be made by the person referred to in section 4(2)(c).”.

(2) Section 20(3) of the Act of 2006 is amended by—

(a) substituting “subsections (3A), (3B), (4), (11)(b), (12) and (13) ” for “subsection (4) ”, and

(b) deleting “or such longer period as may be specified in regulations under section 14”.

(3) Section 20 of the Act of 2006 is amended by inserting the following subsections after subsection (3):

“(3A) In the case of the renewal of an employment permit granted in respect of an employment referred to in section 3A(2)(d)(i), where the Minister is satisfied that the duties to be carried out for the connected person will not be completed on the date of the expiration of the permit that is the subject of the application for renewal, the Minister may, subject to subsection (3C), renew the permit in accordance with this section, for the period referred to in subsection (3) or where the remaining period in which those duties are to be completed is less than the period referred to in subsection (3), for the lesser period.

(3B) In the case of the renewal of an employment permit granted in respect of the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(e), where the Minister is satisfied that the duties to be performed in the State pursuant to the contract service agreement will not be completed on the date of the expiration of the permit that is the subject of the application for renewal, the Minister may, subject to subsection (3C), renew the permit, in accordance with this section, for the period referred to in subsection (3) or where the remaining period in which those duties are to be completed is less than the period referred to in subsection (3), for the lesser period.

(3C) The period for which an employment permit referred to in subsections (3A) and (3B) shall be in force whether granted or renewed, shall not exceed a period of 5 years from the date on which it was first granted.”.

(4) Section 20(4) of the Act of 2006 is amended by substituting “Subject to subsection (4B), if, at the date” for “If, at the date”.

(5) Section 20 of the Act of 2006 is amended by inserting the following subsections after subsection (4):

“(4A) The person making the application for the renewal of an employment permit shall—

(a) provide, with the application for renewal, information, documents and evidence as may be specified in regulations under section 29 in respect of the renewal of an employment permit, and

(b) without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), in the case of an application for the renewal of an employment permit referred to in subsection (3A) or, as the case may be, subsection (3B), provide, with the application for renewal, information, documents and evidence as may be specified in regulations under section 29, in respect of the payment of the additional payment referred to in section 3D(2) or 3D(3) or, as the case may be, section 3E(2) or 3E(3), during the period for which the employment permit, that is the subject of the application for renewal, has been granted.

(4B) Subsection (4) shall not apply to the renewal of an employment permit referred to in subsections (3A), (3B) and (13).”.

(6) Section 20 of the Act of 2006 is amended—

(a) in subsection (6)(a) by deleting “or 7, as appropriate”, and

(b) in subsection (8) by substituting “Sections 10, 11, 12 and 13” for “Sections 11 to 13”.

(7) Section 20 of the Act of 2006 is amended by inserting the following subsection after subsection (8):

(8A) In addition to, pursuant to subsection (8), the grounds specified in section 12 for refusing an application for renewal, the Minister may refuse to renew an employment permit if—

(a) the foreign national is not, in the opinion of the Minister—

(i) employed in the employment specified, in accordance with section 9(2), in the employment permit,

(ii) employed by the person referred to in section 8(2)(a)(i), or, as the case may be, the contractor referred to in section 8(2)(a)(ii), or the person referred to in section 8(2)(a)(iii), or

(iii) employed by the foreign employer or is not carrying out duties for, or participating in a training programme provided by, the connected person referred to in section 8(2)(b),

(b) in the opinion of the Minister, the remuneration paid to the foreign national, during the period for which the employment permit has been in force, is less than the remuneration stated, pursuant to section 9(2), in the employment permit or the deductions referred to in section 9(2), and stated, pursuant to that section, in the employment permit, were different to the deductions made by the employer,

(c) the foreign national has spent a continuous period of not less than 3 months outside the State during the period for which the employment permit has been in force that was not connected to his or her employment,

(d) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the granting of the application to renew the permit would contravene regulations under section 14 in so far as those regulations make provision for, pursuant to section 14(2), the renewal of an employment permit, or

(e) the information, documents and evidence referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (4A) were not provided as required under those paragraphs.”.

(8) Section 20(9) of the Act of 2006 is amended by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

“(aa) in respect of section 10, construing references to—

(i) the date of the application for an employment permit as references to the date of the application for the renewal of an employment permit, and

(ii) the person who made the offer of employment as references to the employer of the foreign national in respect of whom the application for the renewal of an employment permit is made,”.

(9) Section 20 of the Act of 2006 is amended by inserting the following subsections after subsection (9):

“(10) Notwithstanding the application, under subsection (8), of section 12 to the renewal of an employment permit, the Minister may, notwithstanding section 12(3), renew an employment permit in respect of an employment that—

(a) at the date of the grant of such permit was an employment, specified in regulations under section 14, in respect of which an employment permit may have been granted or fell within a category of employment specified in regulations made under section 14 for which an employment permit may have been granted, and

(b) at the date of the application for the renewal, is an employment, or falls within a category of employment, specified in regulations made under section 14 as an employment or category of employment for which an employment permit shall not be granted.

(11) Where an application is made for the renewal of an employment permit granted in respect of the purpose specified in paragraph (c) or (d) of section 3A(2) and section 10(2A) applied in respect of such grant and, on the date the application for such renewal was made, 50 per cent or more of the employees of the employer or, as the case may be, the connected person, are not nationals referred to in section 10(2), the Minister shall not grant the renewal of the permit concerned unless—

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

(b) the Minister is satisfied that, having regard to such recommendation, renewing the employment permit concerned will contribute to the further development of employment in the State,

and where the employment permit concerned is renewed, the period for which the employment permit is renewed shall not exceed 1 year.

(12) Where a subsequent application is made for the renewal of an employment permit that was last renewed in accordance with subsection (11)(b), the Minister shall not renew the employment permit unless 50 per cent or more of the employees of the employer, or, as the case may be, the connected person, are nationals referred to in section 10(2) and where, pursuant to that subsequent application, the employment permit concerned is renewed, the period for which it is renewed shall not exceed 2 years.

(13) Notwithstanding the application, under subsection (8), of section 10 to the renewal of an employment permit, where—

(a) an application is made to renew an employment permit that was granted for the purpose referred to in paragraph (b), (c), (f) or (h) of section 3A(2),

(b) on the day the application to renew the employment permit is made the holder in respect of whom that application is made is the sole employee of the employer concerned, and

(c) at the time the application to grant the employment permit was made, section 10(2B) applied in respect of the grant of that employment permit,

section 10 shall not apply to that application to renew that employment permit.

(14) The period for which an employment permit granted for the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(b) may, under subsection (3), be renewed shall be the lesser of—

(a) the period referred to in subsection (3), or

(b) the period beginning on the date on which the employment permit is to be renewed and ending on the date of the expiry of—

(i) the employment permit granted to the primary permit holder referred to in section 3C(2)(a),

(ii) the permission, referred to in section 3C(2)(b), given to the primary permit holder referred to in section 3C(2)(b) to remain in the State and be in employment in the State,

(iii) the permission referred to in section 3C(3)(a), given to the research project researcher referred to in section 3C(3)(a), or

(iv) the permission, referred to in section 3C(3)(b), given to the research project researcher referred to in section 3C(3)(b) to remain in the State and be in employment in the State.

(15) Nothing in subsection (14) shall be construed as preventing an employment permit referred to in that subsection being renewed for a period that is less than the period specified in subsection (3) in circumstances other than those specified in subsection (14).

(16) Where, on or after the coming into operation of sections 7 and 23 of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014, an application is made to renew an employment permit that was in force immediately before those provisions came into operation, and—

(a) where that employment permit is renewed, it shall be renewed in respect of a purpose referred to in section 3A(2) and the Minister shall determine the purpose for which that employment permit is to be renewed having had regard to the employment in respect of which the employment permit that is the subject of the renewal had been granted and where appropriate, the foreign national concerned, and

(b) in the case of an employment permit that the Minister has determined shall be renewed for the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(c), but the remuneration to be paid in respect of the employment that is the subject of the application for renewal is less than the remuneration specified in regulations under section 14 for that employment or the category of employment into which the employment falls, such lesser remuneration shall not, notwithstanding section 12(3), operate to prevent the Minister from—

(i) renewing that employment permit in respect of such purpose, or

(ii) renewing that employment permit pursuant to any subsequent application for renewal.

(17) Where, on or after the coming into operation of section 23 of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014, an application is made to renew an employment permit that was in force immediately before that section came into operation, notwithstanding subsection (8), section 10 shall not apply in respect of that application to renew that employment permit or to any subsequent application to renew that permit.”.