Surge in employment permit approvals for non-EU nationals
Social media companies and hospitals were among the biggest employers of individuals with employment permits for non-EU nationals last year as the overall number of permits issued rose by 18%.
New figures published by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation show 13,398 permits for workers from outside the EU were approved in 2018 — an annual increase of over 2,000.
Jobs Minister Heather Humphreys said the last quarter of 2018 had seen the highest number of permits issued in any quarter in the previous decade.
Google and Facebook both employed over 200 foreign workers issued with employment permits last year.
The single biggest beneficiary of the system was Dawn Meats which hired 296 individuals with permits, followed by Accenture with 294.
Cork University Hospital employed 259 staff with permits, while other medical facilities including University Hospital Limerick, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and Galway University Hospital also employed around 200 non-EU workers each.
Workers from India accounted for almost a third of all applications for employment permits last year with almost 4,700 applicants.
They were followed by workers from Brazil, Pakistan, the US and the Philippines. Applications were received from 107 different nationalities in total.
Approximately 8% of all applications were rejected with more than a third from Bangladesh refused. Citizens from China, South Africa and Zimbabwe also experienced some of the highest rejection rates.
The employment permits system is managed by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through the operation of the highly skilled eligible occupations list and the ineligible categories of employment list which are reviewed twice yearly to keep pace with rapid labour market changes.
Last week Ms Humphreys said the question of extending the construction industry to the critical skills work permit list was under consideration as she was “very well aware” of the current skills shortages in the sector.
She said the review of the occupation lists was currently being finalised, with 50 different submissions under consideration, including one from the Construction Industry Federation.
The minister also apologised for current delays in the processing of applications for employment permits, with an average of six weeks to process applications from trusted partners and 15 weeks for standard applications.
