Skilled migrant workers vital to economy

Despite growing numbers of EU migrants, there is still a need to attract talented workers from further afield, writes Claire Shoesmith

Without migrant workers, in particular those from as far a field as India, US software group Oracle would struggle to continue operating in Ireland. Non-Irish nationals account for some 45 per cent of the group's Irish workforce, and overall 14 per cent of employees come from non-EU countries.

"We need to dip into specific talent groups and in the area of technology, the Indian talent pool is very important at the moment," says Nicky Sheridan, chief executive of Oracle's Irish operations. "We haven't got time to wait for technology and science graduates to make their way through college here, we need the talent now."

While Ireland was a country associated with emigration, with hundreds of people leaving the country in the 1950s and again in the 1980s, this tendency has changed over the past 15 years and Ireland has become a country of immigration.

As many as 70,000 people entered Ireland in the 12 months to April, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

While the CSO estimates that about 38 per cent of these were from the new EU member states, which joined in May last year, the Immigrant Council of Ireland cites other estimates showing that more than 100,000 new EU member state nationals have applied for personal public service number (PPS) numbers in Ireland since May 2004.

"What people don't seem to realise is that without these workers the Irish economy would look very different," says Heidi Lougheed, a social policy executive at employers' group Ibec.

Indeed CSO figures that forecast the Republic's population will increase to more than 5 million by 2021, assume that at least 30,000 immigrants will enter the country each year until 2016, with the number falling to 20,000 a year between 2016 and 2021.

Moreover a report released last week by Forfás and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, states that Europe alone will not be able to fulfil Ireland's requirement for highly skilled workers in the future.

Acknowledging this issue, the Government is currently debating the allocation of work permits for people from outside the EU.

"There is no doubt that for most of our skills shortages, appropriate European workers are available," Micháel Martin, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said as the Employment Permits Bill was read before the Dáil for a second time last month. "However there are shortages which cannot be sourced other than through economic migration," he added.

The Bill proposes the creation of three types of work permit. The first is a so-called green card, which will be issued for a restricted list of occupations in an the annual salary range of €30,000 to €60,000 where there is a particular skills shortage.

The second is for intra-company transfers, and the third, a permit for a restricted list of occupations with a salary up to €30,000, where the shortage is of labour rather than of skills.

Unlike in the US, where a green card holder enjoys almost all the rights of an American citizen and is entitled to work there indefinitely after a certain period, the Irish proposals only allow a migrant worker to remain in the country for two years.