Employment

‘Two-tiered’ work permit system prioritises overseas tech workers over low-paid migrants – NGO

Oireachtas committee to hear calls for review of rules that mean some workers can change jobs after two years while others have to wait five years

Ireland’s silicon docks: tech workers brought in to plug ‘critical’ gaps in areas like technology are treated better than those in lower-paid industries, a campaign group has claimed.

Ireland is operating an “unfair two-tiered” work permit system that prioritises IT developers and others working in industries deemed “critical” over workers in lower-wage sectors, politicians will hear today.

The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, an NGO that helps workers in low-wage sectors, will tell the Oireachtas committee on integration that the country’s work permit system “leads to poor standards and exploitation” by not allowing people who come from outside the EU to work here to ...