Tánaiste announces revised Employment Permit arrangements for foreign nationals seeking to work in Ireland

ENDS/ETE2026

Irish Economic Migration Policy

Since 2004, Irish labour market policy has been to ensure that general labour and skills needs are met from within the Irish workforce and that of the European Union. For strategic skills/labour shortages in designated occupations in key economic sectors such as healthcare, information technology and financial services, Government policy is to issue employment permits for the employment of non-EEA nationals for specific vacancies and in response to employer demand. The schemes that give effect to such policies - Green Cards (for highly skilled/qualified), Work Permits, Spousal and Dependant Work Permits and permits for Intra-company Transferees - were introduced under the Employment Permits Act, 2006 and came into effect on 1 February 2007. Currently some 30,000 people, or only 1.5% of the labour force, are employment permit holders.

Downward Trend in Employment Permit Applications

Given that Ireland’s current employment permit arrangements were designed to be vacancy-driven, the numbers of permit applications and consequent numbers of permits issued have been showing a consistent downward trend from a peak of 3,693 issued in the month of July 2007 to just 623 for the month of March 2009. Numbers of permits issued since the current schemes began in 2007 are as follows:

Current trends indicate an accelerating rate of reduction in applications for permits as employer demand for workers from non-EEA countries adjusts to changing labour market conditions.

Main Features of Changes to Employment Permit Arrangements

Notwithstanding rapidly declining demand for employment permits the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment recently undertook a review of employment permit arrangements to ensure their ongoing relevance to the needs of the Irish labour market. As an outcome of this review, more stringent eligibility criteria are being implemented for prospective new entrants to the work permit schemes from 1 June 2009 onwards. The main features of the new measures are:

Work Permits

Making more job categories ineligible for new work permits (work riders, domestic workers and HGV drivers now ineligible), and an ongoing assessment of other occupational categories regarding their continued eligibility

No new permits for low-paid jobs i.e. paying under €30,000 per annum

Strengthening the labour market needs test by doubling EURES/FAS advertisement of the job vacancy to 8 weeks, and national press advertisement to six days.

Tougher conditions for the renewal of permits – higher fees and requirement for labour market needs test on renewal

Spouses and dependants of future principal work permit holders having to apply for permits in their own right subject to the standard eligibility criteria and fees for Work Permits (currently spousal/dependant work permits are open to all job categories with no labour market needs test applied or fee charged)

Green Card List – Salaries paying €30,000-€60,000

The Green Card list is reviewed periodically to ensure that it remains relevant to the needs of the Irish labour market. Certain categories were previously removed from the €30,000-€60,000 list i.e. Quantity Surveyors, Building Managers, and some categories of Engineers and Architects. A recent review has shown that skills shortages no longer exist in respect of the occupations listed by industrial sector below. On that basis the following occupations are being removed, with immediate effect, from the Green Card eligible list where the salary payable for the job is in the range €30,000-€59,999 per annum:

Healthcare: Registered midwives; physiotherapists; psychologists; social workers; medical physicists; and speech and language therapists.

Financial Services: Economists; statisticians; underwriters; claims assessors and analysts; securities specialists; fund and investment management specialists; common law jurisdiction lawyers; investment fund professionals; fund accountants; fund valuations professionals; fund administrators; custody specialists; transfer agents; and hedge fund specialists.

Industry/Services: Marketing Managers.

These occupations continue to be eligible for Green Cards where the salary payable to the jobholder is €60,000 or more per annum.