Employers may be able to obtain work permits for foreign workers online from the FAS website www.jobsireland.com shortly.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Enterprise is expected to give FAS clearance for the new system, if it proves feasible.
A spokeswoman for Ms Harney yesterday confirmed a report in Industrial Relations News that the Minister was "actively considering" the possibility of online work permits as a way of meeting increasing job shortages.
FAS has also been lobbying strongly to be allowed to maximise use of the site, which has had almost eight million hits since it was set up last October. The site is targeted at foreign-based workers, both Irish and nonIrish. The move would create a one-stop-shop for workers coming into Ireland.
While the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and Justice, Equality and Law Reform would still issue permits formally, jobsireland would act as their agent, streamlining the filling of vacancies from abroad and cutting out a lot of paperwork which can delay matters.
This has been done in Britain, while Germany has similarly streamlined how it issues its green cards.
According to the FAS director of public relations, Mr Greg Craig, who played a leading role in setting up the jobsireland website, the agency has more than 60,000 foreign job applicants on its database but only 3,500 job matches from Irish employers.
With an estimated 40,000 vacancies, Mr Craig is confident employers will use the system if it comes into operation.
The proposal has been welcomed by the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation. Its director of social affairs, Mr Brendan Butler, said IBEC had been pressing Ms Harney on this issue for some time and employers would take up the opportunity to provide job matches in far greater numbers if there was a real possibility of obtaining permits in this way.
He predicted that up to 30,000 work permits would be needed this year, compared with 18,500 last year and fewer than half that in 1999. He said the visas introduced in June, which allow nurses, IT specialists and construction industry personnel to apply for work visas, were welcome but the range of occupations was too narrow.
The IT area in particular needs a more aggressive approach. A recent International Labour Organisation report projects a growth rate of 8 per cent a year across Europe for the foreseeable future, or 1.6 million vacancies by the end of next year.