The Government has announced that Romanian and Bulgarian nationals resident in Ireland who are the parents of an Irish-born child (IBC) will no longer need an employment permit to work in the State.
The climb-down follows a legal challenge brought by Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre.
“Through our work with the Public Interest Law Alliance (Pila), Karen Berkley of Brophy Solicitors and Michael Lynn BL, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has reversed its policy on access to employment in the state for Romanian and Bulgarian nationals of Irish citizen children,” said Nasc CEO Fiona Finn.
“In practical terms this means that Romanian and Bulgarian nationals who are the parents of Irish citizen children residing in the State are no longer required to hold a work permit to work and provide for their family in Ireland.“
Finn said the decision to challenge the department was taken following the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Zambrano case, which gave non-EEA parents of Irish citizen children the right to live and provide for their dependent children in Ireland.
She added that her organisation’s legal casework immediately identified that both Romanian and Bulgarian IBC parents were not treated like their non-EEA and EU counterparts.
“We believed that this amounted to reverse discrimination,” said Finn. “We brought this to the Department of Justice’s attention as we were working with a number of families who were destitute as a result of this unequal treatment.
“We were continually informed by the department that they were reviewing their policy. However, we were not given any details as to when this review would be concluded.
“Finding this to be an inadequate response we enlisted the assistance of Pila, who through their network assisted us to secure legal representation for a Nasc client.”
Finn said she is pleased that the legal action against the Government has now resulted in a positive change in the situation of the nationals.
Meanwhile, the department has announced that it is to allow immediate and unrestricted access to work for Romanian citizens who have obtained a third level degree from an Irish institution.
The exemption is for those with at least a primary degree as defined by National Frame-work of Qualifications, and who have worked not less than 12 months since 2007 “on the basis of being a student”.
The department said people in this category are advised to show prospective employers evidence of their degree as well as P60s and/or P45s from previous employment in order to avail of the work permit exemption.
