Transferring employees from overseas into Ireland or simply engaging non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals is frequently an issue that employers do not consider until the last minute. They then often baulk when it is explained to them that it is not quite as simple as they thought. Following the implementation of the Employment Permits Act 2006 at the beginning of 2007, a new employment permits system was introduced by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, effective from 1 February last year. The Department is of the view that there are and should be a sufficient pool of employees from within the EEA (and Switzerland) for employers to choose from and it is only in exceptional circumstances that what are now collectively known as ‘employment permits’ will be granted.
The purpose of this article is to set out the basic forms of employment permits available to employers who wish to recruit non-EEA nationals.
