Call for immigration flexibility to meet job requirements

Economists and industry chiefs will this week call for a more flexible Government approach to immigration in the face of acute skills shortages in the economy.

Jim Power, chief economist with Friends First, says changes to the work permits regime are needed if the State is going to attract the estimated 300,000 migrant workers needed to fulfil the country's growth potential over the next decade.

Nicky Sheridan, chief executive of software firm Oracle Ireland, will also call for reforms to allow more skilled workers to bring their immediate family into the State.

These issues will be discussed at a conference organised by the Immigrant Council of Ireland on the Government's proposed Immigration and Residence Bill, due to be published by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell in the coming months.

In an interview in advance of the conference, Mr Power said countries such as Canada and Australia had set the standard in terms of flexible immigration policies which helped meet their economic needs.

He said the Irish economy was almost at full employment and, with growing competition from other countries, there needed to be greater emphasis on access to skilled overseas labour.

The lack of proper policies on immigration meant many highly skilled migrant workers were in jobs for which they were overqualified. "There are no structures in place. We have PhDs serving tables in restaurants, for example. We need to identify the skills we need, and then allow workers greater certainty in terms of getting a work permit.

"As for people who come here, they need to be assisted in getting a job, have access to appropriate language training ... You can't just drop 300,000 people into the country," he said.

Mr Sheridan of Oracle Ireland, which employs 1,000 people, said the firm consistently had 100 vacancies over the last six months due to skills shortages. This was reflected in the wider IT sector where there were around 8,000 vacancies.

"Ireland is no longer a cheap location, so we have to be a high-skills location. We can keep most of our functions in Ireland, but we need people with higher skills to do that ... The must-have is that we need these people. Companies like Oracle don't hang around," said Mr Sheridan.

"These vacancies are very serious. We work at a pretty fast pace; we're an American firm, and Americans are known for wanting to get things done quickly."

He said the Government's legislation would influence the type of access the company would have to a skilled global labour pool.

Mr Sheridan said the work permit and visa system needed to be reformed to provide for quicker processing and greater certainty on the part of immigrant workers regarding their length of stay.

It should also allow skilled workers to bring their immediate family into the State.