8. (1) Section 4 of the Act of 2006 is amended in subsection (1) —

(a) by inserting “, subject to subsection (3),” after “foreign national may”, and

(b) in paragraph (b), by deleting “subject to subsection (3),”.

(2) Section 4 of the Act of 2006 is amended—

(a) by substituting the following subsection for subsection (2):

(2) In a case—

(a) where the application is made in respect of the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(e), the application shall be made by the contractor concerned,

(b) where the application is made in respect of the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(d), the application shall be made by the connected person concerned, or

(c) falling within section 2(1A)(c) of the Act of 2003, the application shall be made by the person party to the arrangement concerned.”,

(b) in subsection (3) —

(i) by substituting “Subject to section 10A, an application under this section shall not be made” for “A foreign national may not make an application under this section in respect of his or her employment in the State”, and

(ii) by substituting “to a foreign national” for “to him or her”,

and

(c) by inserting the following subsections after subsection (3):

“(3A) An application—

(a) referred to in subsection (2)(a), shall be made in respect of the employment that is the subject of the contract service agreement,

(b) referred to in subsection (2)(b), shall be made in respect of the employment in the connected person, and

(c) in the case of the arrangement referred to in subsection (2)(c), shall be made in respect of the employment that is the subject of the arrangement,

and references in this Act to an offer of employment insofar as such references refer to an application referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) shall be construed accordingly.

(3B) When making an application for the grant of an employment permit, the person making the application shall specify the purpose, referred to in section 3A(2), in respect of which the employment permit concerned may be granted.

(3C) An application under this section for an employment permit in respect of the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(a) shall not be made unless the duration of the employment, in respect of which the application is made, is for a period of not less than 2 years.”.

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

“(5) An application shall not be made for the grant of an employment permit in respect of an employment where, in the 6 months preceding the day on which the application is made—

(a) a person was employed in the employment that is the subject of the application, and

(b) that person was dismissed by reason of redundancy from that employment within that period of 6 months.

(6) Where—

(a) an employment permit is in force immediately before the coming into operation of section 7 of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014,

(b) following the coming into operation of section 7 of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014, the spouse, civil partner or dependant of the foreign national to whom that permit has been granted applies for an employment permit in respect of the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(b), and

(c) the Minister is satisfied that having regard to the employment in respect of which the employment permit referred to in paragraph (a) has been granted, that permit would, had it been granted after the coming into operation of section 7 of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014, have been granted in respect of the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(a),

the foreign national to whom the employment permit referred to in paragraph (a) has been granted may be treated as the primary permit holder concerned—

(i) for the purposes of section 3C,

(ii) for the purposes of the application referred to in paragraph (b), and

(iii) where pursuant to such application an employment permit is granted under section 8, the grant of that employment permit.”.