Marcella Corcoran Kennedy
Question:453. Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to issue a technology visa in order to fill any existing technology skills deficit here. [42802/12]
View answerTuesday, 9 October 2012
Questions (453)
Written answers
I would refer the Deputy to my answer to Parliamentary Questions 31684/12 and 31686/12 on 3 July last, which is reproduced for the Deputy's information.
While I am not averse in principle to the establishment of an immigration regime specifically geared to the technology sector, it would have to be on the basis that there was concrete evidence of a particular skills deficit in the labour market that cannot be filled by Irish or EU citizens. That labour market assessment would ultimately be a matter for my colleague the Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation. In this regard it should be borne in mind that the technology sector spans a broad range of skills with differing levels of supply and demand. I would also envisage that applicants for any such programmes would be subject to a rigorous assessment of their qualifications and experience to ensure that their skill sets are appropriate for the sector in question.
In any event, the existing visa application arrangements are entirely flexible and designed to cater for the widest possible range of applicants who may wish to come here as workers, visitors, professionals and so forth.