Report calls for sophisticated immigration policy
Ireland’s new Green Card immigration system must be a modern, sophisticated scheme attracting workers with the right skills, it emerged today.
As a new report revealed the economy would need migrants from outside the European Union, Enterprise Minister Micheal Martin said around 5,000 cards would be issued every year.
The minister insisted it would ensure experienced overseas workers could be targeted to fill vacancies in the health service, finance and other fields.
“We require a modern, sophisticated economic migration system. A system, which both ensures that the economy has the skills it needs to develop and that those who come to work here enjoy the same rights as Irish workers and are integrated into our community,” he said.
“The economic arguments around immigration made in the report are convincing: the conclusion is that migration can contribute positively to the economy, but only when it is managed correctly.”
The report, undertaken by an expert group on Future Skills Needs and Forfas at the request of the Department of Enterprise, identified where skills gaps occur across the economy.
After reviewing shortages in 125 occupations, the group noted construction, finance, engineering, IT, pharmaceutical, healthcare and sales sectors all needed migrants to fill the gaps.
It also noted electrical, electronic, design and production engineers, computer analysts and programmers and healthcare professionals were all experiencing skill shortages.
But Anne Heraty, chairperson of the expert group on Future Skills Needs warned that improving the homegrown workforce was as important as migration.
“The up-skilling and training of the resident population must be seen as the primary response to skill shortages. Developing the workforce at all levels is crucial to Ireland’s sustained economic development,” Ms Heraty said.
The report noted many of Ireland’s skills shortages could be met from within the EU with accession countries in the east offering the best potential for labour supply.
But graduates are in shorter supply. The Forfas report called for a green card system which is transparent, reactive to the labour market, flexible, user-friendly and enforced. It also noted the importance of a system which facilitates integration.
“Ireland’s economic migration policy has to be addressed in the context, not only of our our relatively small population size, but also our access to a labour market of 215 million people in the European Economic Area region,” said Martin Cronin, Forfas chief executive.
