The Irish Government have, as part of the ICT Skills Action Plan, signed a new bill to change the scheme for overseas skilled workers, and their families, and how they can apply to work in Ireland. This is to promote and progress Ireland with the aim of becoming the ‘Internet Capital of Europe’.

The new bill broadens the range of eligible occupations who will be eligible for a work permit in Ireland- most of these new occupations are very focussed on ICT. This should also help investors and indigenous employers when they are considering investment decisions, with the hope that this change in scheme will significantly alleviate the current ICT skills shortage. Also, the length of time required to obtain a new permit should be significantly decreased, so that positions can be filled much quicker, potentially with a 58% reduction in the processing time for obtaining permits and also reducing the time if an appeals process is required.

International research has shown that for every high-end tech job created, a further 4-5 jobs are created elsewhere in the economy, so increasing the volume of these high-end ICT positions should also boost general recruitment and employment in Ireland.