Speaking on the issue late last month, CCI’s Head of Research and Public Affairs Seán Murphy noted: “CCI strongly supports the thrust of this bill as a step in the right direction. However, Ireland is in a worldwide race for talent and this bill fails to address two of the key impediments to attracting skilled migrant workers.”

The government wants the bill to achieve three principal aims: firstly, to clearly and comprehensively set out in legislation the procedures relating to the application, grant and refusal of work permits; secondly, to allow the Minister to introduce a "green-card" type system for highly skilled migrant workers and enable the Minister to establish the number of employment permits in total and by sector, and to identify the skills and employment categories in respect of which employment permits may be granted; and thirdly, to provide a number of new important protections for migrant employees.

Commenting on the Bill's publication, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin noted that: "The aim is that Ireland will have a flexible and responsive employment permit system, which will ensure that the economy's skills and labour needs can be addressed in a pragmatic and speedy manner, while ensuring the rights of all workers are protected. In short, Ireland's economic advance will not be impeded by the absence of the requisite skills and experience".

Supporting the broad thrust of the new bill, Mr Murphy urged the government to ensure that the weaknesses of the old system were swept aside.

“The option for permanent residency, which is one of the most attractive elements of the US Green Card, should be an integral part of the new Irish system. This is necessary if we are to recruit talented workers to Ireland to ensure that they fully participate in Irish society as well as its economy,” he stated.

“Furthermore, the CCI’s most recent Labour Force Survey identified difficulties in obtaining working visas for spouses as one of the key barriers to attracting and retaining highly skilled non-national workers in Ireland. Therefore, this legislation should allow for the automatic provision of working visas for spouses," Mr Murphy observed.