Skilled migrant workers and their families with green cards will be able to seek permanent residency rights in the State after just two years under new changes to the Government's employment permit system.
Green card holders will also be permitted to bring their spouses and families to join them immediately, and their spouses will have the right to work without a work permit.
At present a migrant worker may only seek permanent residency rights and citizenship after spending five years in the State.
The "fast-track residency" provision, however, will only apply to green card holders and not migrant workers on ordinary work permits.
A number of other changes to the green card system being introduced by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment Micheál Martin mean skilled workers earning €30,000 or more will be able to qualify for green cards.
The green card system will be open to skilled workers in a limited number of occupations, such as health or the construction industry, in the annual salary range of €30,000 to €60,000.
A more extensive list of occupations, such as IT, sales and markets, the pharmaceutical industry, will be set out for occupations in the annual salary range above €60,000.
Mr Martin said the definitive list of occupations will be set out shortly, following advice from Forfás and the Expert Group on Future Skills Need, which are examining labour shortages throughout the economy.
Mr Martin told The Irish Times that the changes were aimed at showing skilled migrant workers that they were not just "economic units", but were to be welcomed as potentially permanent members of Irish society.
Work permits will continue to be issued to other workers. These will now be granted for a duration of two years, and a further period of three years.
While migrant support groups are likely to be supportive of some changes, they are certain to point out that the changes still maintain a "two-tier" approach to migrant workers in the State.
While green card workers have the potential of permanent residency, those on work permits will still face the uncertainty of short-term labour.
However, Mr Martin said a number of protections will be included in the new work permit system aimed at protecting workers from exploitation or mistreatment. He said the work permit, or green card, may be granted to the employee rather than the employer, while employees will be able to apply for work permits.
The employment permit will contain a statement of the rights and entitlements of the migrant worker, including that the employee may change employment through the application for another permit by a new employer. This, he said, was aimed at providing migrant workers with greater freedom and flexibility.
New legislation will also prohibit employers from deducting expenses associated with recruitment from remuneration and from retaining personal documents belonging to the employee.
The changes are being introduced under the Employments Permits Bill, which will be debated in the Dáil over the coming weeks.
