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Is the Irish economy growing too fast?

Raising the salary thresholds for work permits

Letters to the Editor. Illustration: Paul Scott
The Irish Times - Letters to the Editor.
Sat Aug 31 2024 - 00:07

Sir, – John FitzGerald observes in his column “Is the Irish economy growing too fast?” (Business, August 30th) that the Irish economy may be growing too quickly. It’s a brave point, but one that needs to be made. He correctly identifies that firms resort to hiring abroad in a hot economy. This trend is most evident in work permits issued to non-EU workers. A total of 39,955 permits were issued in 2022 and a further 30,981 in 2023, compared to just 7,253 permits in 2015.

While some permits are being reissued to existing workers in Ireland, the majority of this surge is likely to involve the inward migration of a worker.

One possible remedy would be to raise taxes in the budget, but tax take is already high. We could instead consider raising the salary thresholds for work permits, encouraging firms to reconsider their hiring. Thresholds were raised in 2024, but it looks to have been ineffective, as 23,820 permits have already been issued in the first seven months of the year. – Yours, etc,

DAVID W HIGGINS,

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Ballycullen,

Dublin 24.