Skills gap sparks call to simplify visa and work permit process 

Chambers Ireland has released survey results showing 95% of micro-businesses are facing significant challenges in recruiting essential employees with sufficient skills and qualifications

More than half of small businesses said they had challenges recruiting for customer-facing roles.

Businesses have called on the Government to simplify the State's visa and work permit process, citing a severe skills gap across the country's SME sector.

Chambers Ireland today released survey results showing 95% of micro-businesses are facing significant challenges in recruiting essential employees with sufficient skills and qualifications.

For medium-sized firms, 78% reported similar recruitment challenges, with two thirds saying they had difficulties recruiting managers with the required knowledge. More than half of small businesses said they had challenges recruiting for customer-facing roles.

"Businesses across the country are facing severe challenges in recruiting qualified employees. This is having an enormous impact on their ability to grow and increase trade," said Chambers Ireland chief executive Ian Talbot.

"Our members are calling on Government to simplify the permitting and visa process. There should be a single application process for both, and we need fewer, broader permits, not new classes of them."

The business representative body welcomed the increased resources that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has allocated to permits, but said this needs to be co-ordinated with quicker, more flexible visa processing within the Department of Justice.

Ian Talbot, CEO of Chambers Ireland: 'We have to make Ireland an easier place to come to work.'

“Across our economy we see that our infrastructure and services are struggling to meet demand," Mr Talbot said. "To build the extra capacity we need, we have to make Ireland an easier place to come to work.

We are no longer as attractive a place to migrate to as we used to be, and we must make sure that bureaucratic processes are not putting up extra barriers to attracting talent.

"Government must be diligent in delivering on non-complex matters such as this that are completely within its control to deliver without delay," said Mr Talbot.