The National Competitiveness Council and FAS are calling on the Government to relax the rules on work permits so that more non-EU nationals with skills in high demand can enter the labour market. The call comes as the latest figures from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment show a record 10,000 work permits have been issued so far this year, compared with 6,252 for the whole of 1999.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, predicted yesterday that the total number of non-EU nationals coming to work in Ireland would reach 14,000 by the end of the year. She said that she was pleased by the response to the new work visa plan introduced by her earlier this year. Nearly 500 non-EU workers, mainly nurses and IT specialists, had responded.
However, she said the response from construction industry professionals, the other group being targeted, had been disappointing. The chairman of the NCC, Mr Brian Patterson, says the present system is too restrictive while the head of the FAS "Jobs Ireland" campaign, Mr Greg Craig, says the "Harney visa" system needs to be extended "across all sectors and all occupations" if the economy's needs are to be met.
He added that the majority of the 1.6 million "hits" on the agency's international website have come from non-EU nationals and over half of the 31,500 CVs registered with FAS by would-be immigrants in search of a job are also from outside the EU.
The fastest-growing interest in Irish jobs is now coming from eastern Europe and Mr Craig says FAS is planning a jobs fair in Prague on October 7th and 8th, with another one in Slovenia in November.
He believes the "Harney visa" system is better suited to the needs of non-EU workers than the work-permit scheme. Under it, visas are issued to applicants through Irish embassies. However, the long-established annual work permit system is still the main conduit for non-EU nationals wishing to work in Ireland. The total passed the 10,000 threshold for the first time on Wednesday.
A detailed breakdown is not available but according to Mr Brian McCabe of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, people from North America still constitute the largest group. They are followed by India, South Africa, Australia, Latvia and the Czech Republic.
A significant trend is the fall in renewals of work permits by employers. Only 14 per cent of permits were renewed so far this year, compared with a third last year. This suggests greater volatility in the immigrant labour market.
