A LEADING industry expert has called on the Government to ramp up the issuing of work permits within some sectors.
Jim Ryan – human capital practice partner with professional services firm Ernst and Young – cited IT, financial services and healthcare as experiencing “severe” skills’ shortages, which can “only be addressed in the short term by adapting the country’s migration policy”. He said these sectors were finding it “very difficult to secure appropriate staff”, and that Ireland needs to investigate ways “to both improve the skill levels of people who are currently living in Ireland, and also to improve and adapt the permits system so that we can tap into the substantial skill resources that exists in Ireland.”
Ryan, who was speaking at an Irish employment permit and immigration briefing in Dublin last week, urged the Government to be “responsive and flexible” to the demands of the economy and the “particular requirements of each business sector”.
Ernst and Young employs 130,000 people worldwide, and hosted last week’s briefing to focus on permit and immigration issues facing employers recruiting non EEA-citizens to work in Ireland. Concerns were raised at the briefing about the number of work permits issued so far this year, down more than 50 per cent on the 2007 figures.
The number of employment permits – including green cards for high-skilled workers – issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the first eight months of 2008 is 10,095. In comparison, 23,513 were issued in 2007.
According to Ernst and Young, statistics on Europe’s aging population mean that Ireland is competing globally to not only attract but also retain talent from overseas. Pauline O’Loughlin, the firm’s Irish immigration advisory manager, commented: “Keeping people is a big deal with companies in Ireland.”
She added that feedback from attendees at the seminar indicated that 70 per cent of employers are still finding it difficult to fill some positions from the local employment market. O’Loughlin said that this suggests there is more need for employers to use the permit and green card system.
