Employers' groups have criticised new restrictions on issuing work permits to immigrants, claiming they will lead to higher labour costs and more skills shortages.
Mr Pat Delaney, director of the Small Firms Association, said: "In terms of policy it's like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It won't do anything to reduce unemployment because immigrant labour is not responsible for higher unemployment. Ireland is still gripped by endemic skills shortages. If we must have State intervention it should be bringing down costs, not increasing them."
The view was shared by ISME, the small and medium business group, which described the new measures as "premature and ill-conceived".
Its chief executive, Mr Mark Fielding, said: "The indications are that, contrary to the utterings of some trade union officials and certain politicians, non-nationals are not displacing Irish jobs and in many cases are supplementing Irish employment. To clamp down on allowing non-EEA [European Economic Area\] nationals to take up opportunities that exist could conceivably lead to company closures and further job losses."
The EEA comprises the 15 EU states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Nationals from those countries do not need work permits to take up jobs in Ireland.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, announced the new procedures on Thursday in response to "a downturn in the economy" and a marginal increase in unemployment.
Under the new rules, FÁS will withhold permits from non-EEA nationals in localities where there is "sufficient supply of labour with the requisite skills".
Where a skills shortage is identified, however, employers will no longer have to advertise the position locally with FÁS for four weeks before they can fill it with immigrant labour.
The employers' confederation,IBEC, welcomed the amending of the four-week advertising rule but said it was concerned about other aspects of the announcement.
It noted that while the number of work permits granted for last year was just over 40,000, compared to 36,000 in 2001, the number of new applications for work permits decreased in 2002 for the first time in several years. A significant number of last year's applications were renewals - 16,562 compared to 6,485 in 2001.
FÁS's director-general, Mr Rody Molloy, defended the new arrangements. "We have noticed over the last 12 months or so an increasing number of low-skilled or unskilled people coming in under the work-permit scheme and, given that there has been a slight upturn in unemployment, we feel that our first obligation is to Irish people," he told RTÉ radio.
Employers also face a 25 per cent increase in the work-permit fee to €500, which must be paid on renewal every six or 12 months.
