Changes introduced today by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI) regarding the eligibility of certain occupations to apply for work visas, will go some way to addressing skills shortages in the country according to visa experts at www.visafirst.com.
 
Manager and Migration Expert with www.visafirst.com, Edwina Shanahan, claims that the changes will definitely be seen as a good thing for those sectors that are struggling to fnd qualified staff to fill certain roles.

She claims that www.visafirst.com are often contacted by employers based in Ireland who need to look overseas for staff simply because the level of technical expertise in certain occupations is not available amongst the Irish workforce. 

In the year to date there have been approximately 4,136 permits issued in Ireland to workers from overseas – predominantly filling posts in the medical and nursing and ‘service industry’.

By the end of July this year the greatest number of permits have been issued to the HSE (1128), followed by Google Ireland (156), Wipro (65), IBM Ireland (58) and Intel (57). 
 
Shanahan says, "While Ireland boasts a great workforce of people with qualifications, talent and experience in many areas – like most countries there are certain areas in which we are deficient in terms of specialist expertise.

"Improvements to and developments in the Irish work permit application process will have long term value for the Irish economy as those international companies based here, and also those that are considering setting up here, benefit from faster processing times and a reduced documentation requirements."

Source: www.businessworld.ie