By Business & Finance 
Regulation changes introduced by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on who can and cannot apply for a work permit in this country have come into effect today.
Although Ireland boasts a workforce of people with qualifications, talent and experience in many areas, there are certain areas in which we are deficient in terms of specialist expertise.
Visa experts at Visafirst.com – a company offering global visa and recruitment support services – believe the changes introduced today by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation regarding the eligibility of certain occupations to apply for work visas, will go some way to addressing skills shortages in the country.
Edwina Shanahan, manager, Visafirst.com said: “These changes will definitely be seen as a good thing for those sectors that are struggling to find qualified staff to fill certain roles. Year to date there have been approximately 4,136 permits issued in Ireland to workers from overseas – predominantly filling posts in the medical and nursing and ‘service industry’. By the end of July this year the greatest number of permits have been issued to the HSE (1128), followed by Google Ireland (156), Wipro (65), IBM Ireland (58) and Intel (57).”
Telecommunications engineers, IT engineers and chiropractors are now all eligible to apply for work permits, while betting shop managers, graphic design managers, library managers and dispensing opticians are no longer eligible to apply for work permits under the new regulations that come into effect today.
