From next month employers must offer Irish and European nationals first choice of available jobs before turning to other immigrant labour under the work permits scheme.
The new arrangements announced yesterday are accompanied by an increase in the fees employers must pay for work permits for immigrant workers.
The tightening of the work permit regime, which had been signalled in recent weeks by the Taoiseach and the Tβnaiste, comes amid recent job losses and predictions of an economic slowdown.
The changes mean a more rigid enforcement of existing rules in the light of the softening of the labour market. Earlier acute labour shortages had meant that the requirement for employers to establish that an Irish or EEA national was not available for a job had not been strictly enforced.
From January 2nd applications for new work permits will not be accepted by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment unless they are accompanied by a letter from F┴S confirming that the employer has made all reasonable efforts to find an Irish or EEA national to fill the vacancy.
The EEA - European Economic Area - comprises the 15 EU member-states as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. EEA nationals do not need work permits to take up jobs in Ireland.
Announcing the changes yesterday, the Tβnaiste, Ms Harney, stressed that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment would continue to facilitate the renewal of work permits for existing employees. "I can assure such personnel that their positions are not in jeopardy as a result of the new arrangements," she said.
Ms Harney said the work permit scheme should reflect prevailing labour market conditions.
"This has not been the case in recent months and, in fact, we had reached a situation where applications for work permits were continuing to increase despite recent job losses and the generally acknowledged prospects for a slower rate of growth in the economy," she added.
Her Department's priority was to tighten up the work permit scheme without unfairly penalising employers who had a genuine difficulty sourcing particular skills locally.
The arrangements will not apply to work permits for professional medical personnel or for high-skilled workers in information technology, nursing or construction.
The new fees to be paid by the employer for work permits range from £39.38 (€50) for a one-month worker to £315 (€400) for six months to one year. The current fee for a six months to one year permit is £125 (€159).
Some 34,500 work permits have been issued this year to date, compared to 18,000 last year.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties was last night critical of the arrangements. "The work permit scheme as it existed was bad enough as a form of bonded labour but this new initiative demonstrates how crude an instrument of economic policy the as yet unspecified immigration policy of the Government is," said the its chairman, Mr Donncha O'Connell.