Since 2004, Irish labour market policy has been to ensure that general labour and skills needs are met from within the workforce of the European Union. For strategic skills/labour shortages in designated occupations in key economic sectors such as healthcare, information technology and financial services, Government policy is to issue employment permits for the employment of non-EEA nationals for specific vacancies and in response to employer demand. The various schemes that give effect to such policies were introduced under the Employment Permits Act, 2006.
Given that our current employment permit arrangements were designed to be vacancy-driven, the numbers of permit applications and consequent numbers of permits issued over the last six months have been showing a consistent downward trend.
I am currently having our employment permit arrangements reviewed to ensure their ongoing relevance to the needs of the Irish labour market.
The numbers of work permits sought and granted or refused in 2008, and the total numbers of work permits that are in current use in the State, for all categories of employment, are set out in a number of tables.
Permits issued and refused by Job Classification in 2008
|
New
|
Renewals
|
Total
|
Refused
|
Associate Professional & Technical Occupations
|
1,774
|
385
|
2,159
|
260
|
Clerical & Secretarial Occupations
|
142
|
102
|
244
|
33
|
Craft & Related Occupations
|
606
|
482
|
1,088
|
203
|
Managers & Administrators
|
526
|
224
|
750
|
171
|
Other Occupations
|
1,174
|
1,224
|
2,398
|
399
|
Personal & Protective Service Occupations
|
1,664
|
1,823
|
3,487
|
736
|
Plant & Machine Operatives
|
114
|
144
|
258
|
47
|
Professional Occupations
|
2,276
|
475
|
2,751
|
352
|
Sales Occupations
|
200
|
151
|
351
|
34
|
Not specified
|
0
|
75
|
75
|
1
|
Totals
|
8,476
|
5,085
|
13,561
|
2,236
|
Current Live Permits by Sector
Sector
|
New
|
Renewals
|
Total
|
Service Industry
|
5,587
|
6,394
|
11,981
|
Catering
|
1,542
|
4,486
|
6,028
|
Medical & Nursing
|
3,490
|
1,995
|
5,485
|
Industry
|
1,256
|
1,159
|
2,415
|
Agriculture & Fisheries
|
454
|
1,413
|
1,867
|
Education
|
317
|
366
|
683
|
Domestic
|
159
|
496
|
655
|
Sport
|
139
|
58
|
197
|
Entertainment
|
27
|
50
|
77
|
Exchange Agreements
|
4
|
2
|
6
|
Totals
|
12,975
|
16,419
|
29,394
|