22. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), 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 for a contract for service employment permit, the contractor, subcontractor or the relevant person concerned, or

(c) in the case of an application for an intra-company transfer employment permit, the connected person concerned,

are either—

(i) nationals of one or more Member States of the EEA,

(ii) nationals of the Swiss Confederation,

(iii) citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or

(iv) a combination of any of the nationals or citizens referred to in paragraphs (i), (ii) and (iii).

(2) In the case of an application for a critical skills employment permit, a general employment permit or an intra-company transfer employment permit, subsection (1) shall not apply to such application where—

(a) on the day on which the application is made, 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 prescribed period,

(b) an enterprise development agency has made a recommendation referred to in section 16 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.

(3) In the case of an application for a dependant employment permit, a general employment permit, a reactivation employment permit or a sports and cultural employment permit, subsection (1) shall not apply to such application where—

(a) on the day on which the application is made, the person referred to in subsection (1)(a) has no employees, and

(b) the foreign national concerned will be the sole employee of the person referred to in subsection (1)(a) on the date on which the employment that is the subject of the application is to commence,

and the person making the application shall, in addition to any information required under section 13, or as may be specified in regulations under section 50, in respect of an application, provide the Minister with any information and documents the Minister may require to be satisfied with regard to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) and (b).

(4) This section and section 23 are in addition to—

(a) in respect of section 23, Regulation (EU) No. 492/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011² on freedom of movement for workers within the Union, and

(b) the other requirements that this Act specifies must be satisfied with respect to the grant of an employment permit and are without prejudice to any regulations for the time being in force under section 47.