The Irish government has announced new quotas for sea fishers, providing 150 employment permits for this category of workers. The initiative to facilitate the recruitment of non-EEA workers to Ireland is a result of government efforts to address labor shortages in the Irish fleet.

The employment permit policy is one of the ways the Irish government aims to tackle skills deficits. Typically, EEA nationals are required to fill these gaps, but when there is a shortage of such workers, the government will turn to non-EEA nationals. Generally, the occupations eligible for the employment permits system fall into one of the following categories:

• Occupations listed on the Critical Skills Occupations List include highly skilled professional roles that are in high demand but not always easy to find within the country. Some of these occupations are in fields such as technology, sciences, medicine, finance, and business.
• Ineligible occupations are those that can be filled by Irish/EEA workers, and employment permits are not granted for these roles.
• For jobs that cannot be filled by workers in Ireland or the EEA, non-EEA workers can obtain an employment permit. The Labour Market Needs Test is required for these positions, and if no suitable candidates are found, the employer can apply for an employment permit for a non-EEA worker.

Healthcare and social work are the most in-demand sectors, accounting for 35 percent of the total permits. Indian nationals are the primary beneficiaries. Out of the total work permits, 6,746 (34 percent) were granted to Indian nationals, followed by Brazilians with 2,320 permits (12 percent) and Filipinos with 2,005 permits (10.3 percent).