The Government has taken steps to tackle the growing skills shortage by relaxing the rules which apply to work permits for non-EU nationals. In a move designed to ease the mobility and availability of staff it has waived the need for work permits where non-EU nationals are on assignment from an affiliated foreign company.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment introduced the procedures last month, initially on a trial basis. They apply for up to four years. The new rules are expected to ease employment difficulties for multinational companies investing in the Republic or who wish to transfer staff from other locations to their Irish offices. Employers only need to provide valid letters of confirmation of employment for the new staff member. The rules have also been relaxed for people involved in work training in the Republic for up to three years, certain categories of asylum seekers, spouses of Irish nationals and parents of Irish-born children.
With the number of applications for work permits increasing from 3,000 in 1994 to nearly 7,000 in 1998, the measures are designed to ease pressure on the validation process.
Immigration authorities will now have more time and resources to handle longer term applications for work permits, within sectors facing a genuine skills shortage.
Previously companies seeking work permits for non-EU staff had to prove to immigration authorities they had done everything possible to recruit an EU citizen for the job. The new approach will circumvent this requirement.
Although the application procedure is quite simple, the length of time to process applications had been causing frustration for the Government and potential employers. It currently takes up to two months for a candidate to receive a permit, and a number of software companies say they have lost potential recruits to other companies because of the arduous process.
Ms Katherine Lucey, director of the Irish Software Association, said: "This is an important move towards consolidating Ireland's role in the international software business. To maintain our position we need to be flexible. The US recently committed to a two week turnaround time in processing visa applications, it is a measure of our competitivity to facilitate faster processing times here."
The latest development which has long been sought by the Irish software industry, has also been welcomed by organisers of an Irish Technology Career Expo in the US in June. Aimed at Irish and non-Irish technology professionals, more than 10,000 people are expected to attend the free event over four days in New York and Boston. Up to 50 high-tech Irish and multinational companies will compete to attract technical expertise for their operations in Ireland and overseas.
Further details are available on the IT Staffing website at www.itireland.com.
