Skilled migrant workers will have to earn a minimum of about €55,000 per year to qualify for the Government's new green card system, writes Martin Wall.
The green cards will be issued to skilled staff in 10 sectors of the economy where labour shortages are deemed to exist.
Card-holders, as with all other people legally resident in the State, will be able to apply for citizenship after five years of residency.
There will be an automatic right for immediate family unification for all those holding green cards.
The existing work-permit regime for skilled workers has been criticised in recent years as bureaucratic and inflexible by lobby groups in the private sector.
Green cards, under the new system, will be different from existing work permits in that they will allow holders full freedom to seek jobs within specified areas of the economy.
The Government announced the introduction of legislation for a new green card system for skilled migrant workers last June.
However the criteria for the operation of the new scheme were set out for Cabinet yesterday by the Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin.
Under the criteria for the scheme, the new green cards will be available for highly qualified staff in 10 sectors: information and computer technology; healthcare; construction; biotechnology; engineering; financial services; transport; sales and marketing; research and the skilled technical area.
The new scheme is aimed at attracting highly skilled staff to Ireland and the minimum qualification threshold will be based on salary.
Informed sources said that at a minimum, those seeking to acquire a green card will have to earn in the region of €55,000 a year.
However this minimum figure could be increased by the Department of Enterprise and Employment before the introduction of the scheme.
The 10 sectors of the economy where the new green card system will apply were proposed to the department by Forfás and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs which examined labour shortages throughout the economy. Under the system, the green cards will be issued for a minimum of five years.
The system is being introduced by the Government in response to growing competition for highly skilled migrant workers from other countries in Europe as well as the US.
The new proposals will affect nationals from outside the European Economic Area which comprises the 25 member states of the European Union as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.