‘Green Card’ categories identified

ARCHITECTS, bricklayers, plasterers, tax experts, software engineers, therapists and dieticians will be among the skilled workers eligible to qualify for Irish ‘Green Cards’, the Irish Examiner understands.

Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin will today launch a report identifying the skills needs of the economy, prepared by an expert group on future skills needs and by Forfás. The report will form the basis of the first allotment of the cards, expected to number about 5,000 per annum.

The report pinpoints shortfalls in the construction sector; skilled trades; finance; engineering; the chemical industry; software; the pharmaceutical sector; and healthcare.