Govt lifts work restrictions on Bulgarian, Romanian nationals
The Government has announced that it has granted Bulgarians and Romanians full and immediate access to the labour market ahead of the lifting of the remaining work restrictions for citizens of those countries on 1 January 2014.
A statement by the Department of Jobs, Enter-prise, and Innovation stated that the decision was taken following a comprehensive review of the possible implications of allowing such access.
“It has become clear that the basis for the continuation of restrictions on access to the labour market for remaining categories of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals is questionable,” said the statement.
A number of factors the Government said it considered included a review of studies carried out by the European Commission and Forfás which concluded that “the likely outlook remains for a flat or even a marginal decline in the number of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals seeking to work in Ireland”.
Additionally, the department stated that many Bulgarian and Romanian citizens – including students and self-sufficient or self-employed people – already enjoyed some rights of access to the Irish labour market, and that their population in Ireland is estimated to have come down by some 3,000 since 2009.
Only nine of the 27 EU member states currently retain restrictions of any sort on access to their labour markets by Bulgarian and Romanian nationals, with Italy and the Czech Republic the latest to lift their ban on 1 January this year.
Five months ago Metro Éireann reported on the Bulgarian and Romanian parents of an Irish-born child who were granted full rights to work and run a business in Ireland.
The climb-down followed a legal challenge brought by Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre, after the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Zambrano case, which authorised non-EEA parents of Irish citizen children to live and provide for their dependent children in Ireland.
Meanwhile, pro-immigrant groups have reacted positively to the Government’s move.
Brian Killoran of the Immigrant Council of Ireland said it “fully welcomes the Government’s decision to lift restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian citizens who wish to work in Ireland.
“In practice, the restrictions placed upon Romanian and Bulgarian nationals since their accession to the EU in 2007 have been a source of huge confusion and lack of clarity as regards their rights and entitlements,” he added.
