Employers seeking to hire workers including child-minders, bar staff and general labourers will not be allowed to recruit migrants on work permits for the next three months.
Under new rules which take effect from tomorrow, vacancies in a wide range of low-skilled areas will have to be filled instead by workers from Ireland or the European Economic Area (EEA).
The considerable restrictions in the State's main immigrant labour recruitment scheme is the latest in a series of measures aimed at making it more difficult for employers to bypass local workers in favour of less costly employees from outside the EEA.
The EEA comprises the EU states plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. EEA nationals do not need work permits in Ireland.
The move is a response to growing concerns in the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment, which administers work permits, that employers have been paying only lip-service to the legal requirement that they try to fill vacancies with either Irish or other EEA citizens, before looking farther afield.
However, business representatives including the Irish Business and Employers Confederation greeted the changes with some scepticism last night.
The list of occupational categories which will remain off limits for work permits until June 30th is based on assessment by FÁS and the Department that there are sufficient domestic personnel available to fill vacancies in these areas, the Department said in a statement yesterday.
These include all clerical and administrative positions, operator and production staff, general labourers and builders, sales staff including retail sales, reception and bar staff, childcare workers including child-minders and crèche workers, transport staff including drivers, and craft workers including carpenters, joiners and plumbers.
These categories include jobs in the service and catering sectors which together accounted for more than half of the 40,321 work permits issued last year.
IBEC last night expressed "extreme concern" about the restrictions, which it said would have a very significant impact.
"IBEC does not believe that it is practicable to suspend work permits in such widespread sectors of the economy, with less than three days' notice.
"The confederation is also concerned that a centralised approach is being adopted which does not take regional and local variations into account," it said.
However, announcing the changes yesterday, the Department said the list of occupational categories ineligible for work permits until the end of June was drawn up following "an intensive analysis" of the skills profile of job-seekers registered with FÁS.
The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland organisation said it was sceptical of the ability of FÁS, based on its track record, to "deliver staff" to fill vacancies.
If it failed, FÁS should compensate businesses which would be left to "take the hit on their bottom line" if they cannot get staff, said its chief executive, Mr John Dunne.
Vacancies in sectors which have not been listed as off-limits for work permits can still be considered for permits, provided that an initial attempt is made to fill the posts with Irish or EEA nationals.
Where there are specific skills shortages identified by the authorities, this requirement to seek local labour will be waived.
The Department said it would in future give priority for work permits to nationals from EU accession states.
FÁS will review the categories of workers which are off-limits for work permits on a quarterly basis, in consultation with the Department.
The new arrangements will not affect applications already pending with the Department. Last year, 40,321 work permits were issued, including 16,562 renewals of existing permits.