Employers will not be allowed to hire migrant workers on work permits for certain low-skilled jobs where FÁS finds there is sufficient domestic labour supply, under plans being finalised by the authorities.
The change, expected to be announced within days, is the latest in a series of measures to tighten up the system under which foreign workers are recruited.
The new procedures will be aimed at making it more difficult for employers to bypass local workers in favour of less costly immigrant labour.
Where FÁS determines there is a sufficient supply of domestic labour to meet vacancies in certain sectors, work-permit applications for these categories of workers will not be accepted by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment.
FÁS will review the categories of workers which are off-limits for work permits on a quarterly basis, in consultation with the Department. In sectors where there is an obvious shortage of domestic labour, such as in horticulture and meat processing, work-permit applications will still be permitted.
The authorities' concerns that employers have been paying only lip-service to a legal requirement that they try to fill vacancies with either Irish or other European citizens, before looking further afield, are apparent in documents released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, was recently told by a senior official in her Department that FÁS staff had lost faith in the efficacy of procedures requiring that employers advertise vacancies with them for at least four weeks before applying for a work permit to recruit migrant workers.
Under a system introduced in January 2002, FÁS must issue a "clearance" form to employers before they can seek a work permit. This form effectively verifies no suitable job candidate could be found among citizens of Ireland and the European Economic Area (EEA), which comprises the EU states, plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. EEA nationals do not need work permits in Ireland.
FÁS staff believe this requirement had been "simply a formula, since employers can advertise virtually any job in Ireland at the national minimum wage and if they cannot find an EEA national to accept on those terms, they have a very reasonable expectation of being able to bring in a migrant workers to take the job," the Tánaiste was advised.