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FINE GAEL GALWAY West Senator, Fidelma Healy Eames, has called for a technology visa to be introduced on a short term basis, to help address our IT skills shortage and attract global talent to Ireland.
Senator Healy Eames was responding to an IBEC survey which found that 95 percent of companies surveyed feel there is a lack of technological talent here.
The Senator said the government had singled out IT and high-tech sectors as areas of the economy that present growth opportunities.
“We need to do everything we can to support high potential, Irish start-ups and attract innovative global companies to these shores,” she said.
“This survey from IBEC clearly shows that a lack of technological skills within the Irish workforce is hampering these efforts.”
The 79 companies surveyed by IBEC had almost 700 vacancies to fill, and nearly all of them said they feel there is a lack of technological talent in Ireland. Three quarters of the firms have recruited from outside the European Union and almost half of them have outsourced, due to a lack of talent.
“If we are failing to meet the needs of these companies and others, we are stifling business and jobs growth,” Healy Eames said.
The Senator said she was calling for Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton to consider introducing a technology visa in the short term to address this skills shortage.
Healy Eames said she hoped Irish graduates could fill these vacancies in the long term, with a series of technology focused courses introduced in third level education over the last few years.
However she said we need to ensure we are not missing out on investment opportunities in the meantime.
“I know of a technology company in Ireland that is looking to recruit a software engineer with fluent Chinese and English since last autumn,” said Healy Eames.
“But due to work permit rules, the position remains unfilled and the company is being advised to move. We can’t allow these kinds of situations to persist,” she added.
According to the IBEC survey, 90 percent of companies say they could grow or expand further if a wider tech skills-base was available in Ireland.
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Or… And hold with me a second… Because this is one crazy ass idea that’s so insane in theory and even crazier in practice that it would below the mind of any incumbent technologically illiterate politician who feels the need to wander out of their expensed wood panelled and ivory desk office to make a statement they know nothing about…
We could TRAIN and EDUCATE our children and young people in COLLEGES and UNIVERSITIES to fill these jobs. It wouldn’t even cost any extra money… If you taught them something useful in school instead of a language NO ONE speaks you could have the coding by age 12. The same with Fas courses They should focus on in demand jobs…
#CoderDojo :)
The article says that that’s the hope in the long term. I’m assuming the Senator is speaking more in the short-term/immediate time frame.
Hence SHORT TERM visas?
One of the reasons there’s a shortage is that the jobs on offer are customer service jobs that require a second language. Something precious few of us Irish people have. Also these jobs aren’t the “high skill” jobs we are lead to believe they are – but that’s an argument for another day.
Yes but anybody from the EU , with the exception of maybe Romania and Bulgaria, can already work innIreland so what languages are missing? The EU must have citizens who are native or fluent speakers of any language in the world because their parents spoke it – the population is 500 million. n
Just to point out that #TwitterDublin re looking for Dutch speakers, but not for call-centre positions!
Not a bad idea, there really is a shortage in some areas.
Clearly a good idea. We’ve done a lot to make this country a top choice for tech companies – solve the visa thing and the jobs will really flow. A change like this in US is politically unfeasible, more luck for us. To be clear: (i) These jobs are not all at call-centres, there’s a spectrum right up to the top of the pile. (ii) It would take years to make a meaningful dent in retraining domestic labour – have more kids get top marks in subjects like Spanish and physics for leaving cert then do the right degrees. (iii) Jobs and the economy are never a zero-sum game. Bring these people and they’ll need plumbers and shops and mortgage brokers etc.
Why would Spanish speakers need visas?
Because most Spanish speakers are from outside the EU?
So nobody in Spain, or the EU, can actually speak Spanish well enough for these roles we have to source people from Mexico? God knows it would be hard to get Spanish people these days, though, as their economy is rocketing.
Is this the same (technologically savvy) Healy Eames that called for “some class of microchip” to be installed in games consoles so they switch off after a set period?
Almost all of my consoles have a sleep time but am thinking of getting a remote control to turn on power to the socket anyway.
Basic programming skills should be introduced at early stages in primary schools and Computer Science made an official subject in secondary. These are the changes that need to happen now. Can’t believe it hasn’t happened already. The number of wasted years I spent in school in dead end subjects that can’t be used in the workforce beggars belief.
Bbbut Civics Social Political Education was one of the most thought provoking classes ever!
It sparked many thoughts of ‘What am I going to do tonight’ etc…
There is a fair amount of naivity in this thread. There is a need for visas for specialists to come to Ireland for Google etc. if there are no people in the EU ready to take this position.
1) We don’t need visas for anybody in the EU. So arguments that we – Ireland – are not producing enough Spanish, or Dutch speakers is nonsensical. We can source these people in Spain or Holland.
2) I know people who are fluent in Chinese and English and who live in the UK. I worked in a startup associated with the Imperial college in the UK and a lot of the undergraduates there – a very good university for technology – are of Chinese descent, many can speak Mandarin, or other Chinese languages as they do it at home. Pay them enough and they will come to Ireland. I have also worked with native hindi speakers, or farsi speakers – fluent in English.
3) I am not sure why a software engineer – as opposed to a localiser, or a customer service worker – would need Chinese, as a properly built application can be localised without touching the code.
In reality, therefore, the demand for visas for Chinese and English speakers from outside the EU is a demand for cheap non-EU labour from China. Companies will say they need a Chinese native speaker to code, and get a visa from non-technical ministers.
I would be careful on this one. It might be a recipe for cheap labour.
100% spot on Eoin. The article talks about lack of Tech Skill then ends with the language argument, its outsourcing for cheap labour. leave them to it.
Yes totally ridiculous to call some of these jobs as high skill jobs that they just can’t fill in Ireland, I cannot see how this is possible, I’d say the positions are vacant as they are trying to get staff on the cheap. But at the same time our lack of additional language skills is embarrassing.
But to have a non-national work in a position here, don’t they need to be vetted by FÁS first to prove that the company cannot get an Irish person to fill he position?
Datalore, wouldn’t that contravene EU regulations?
400,000 plus umeployed and this idiot wants to give out more free visas. Ever hear of retraining?
How long would it take to retrain someone to the requisite skill level?
Retraining has a part to play and greener people will be needed down the line, but immediate needs tend to be for experienced people.
you don’t retrain a dentist to be a surgeon. same thing with IT
This isn’t a new idea, people like Sean O’Sullivan at Avego have been calling for this with a while now.
There’s bound to be a backlash with people saying we should train our own, to them I would say that the facilities to develop a career in IT are already there and you can lead a horse to water but can’t make him drink.
I think it’s a great idea – the Irish economy needs to get back to making products. If we can attract the most skilled people here to set up their businesses then the pull through on job creation should be significant.
You miss the main point. they call for cheap slaves. there is a green card scheme, Google. Microsoft & others are heavily using it. Sean O’Sullivan can use it too if he really needs a talent or a hight skilled programmer/engineer
its a good idea as there are shortages. but saying that it is the route cause of a lot of outsourving is a little misleading
A good idea, as long as it isn’t abused and the are becomes over saturated.
Irish first, if no reasonable candidate then visa holders.
Might seem a bit harsh?
Protecting job’s for locals isn’t harsh.
Although, there shouldn’t be a reason to worry, there are several areas in the IT sector here seriously lacking talent pools.
This is the new FG goal, 97% of Irish making EUR11.65 hour and the wealthy millions each year are paying just 12.5% tax.
What’s wrong with current Green Card scheme? or .. yeah let me guess. Mr. Senator need to show up that he is actually working for his electorate.
Well DAWH!
Does the government not realise that the wise people are emigrating?
‘Build it and they will come’
Train them and they will go…
and who can blame them..
Short of thought, quick fix suggestion from the politician. I disagree.
Can i suggest that there are a reasonable number of IT people left underworked due to difficulty in convincing HR people that they could comfortably reskill to a more valuable position?
I.e. if someone has 3 years experience in C++, it will not take 3 years for them to reach the same level in Java / C# or whatever the latest fashionable language is.
So it comes down to the problem that is throughout all trades…
How do we get a transferable certificate of experience level, ideally transferable throughout Europe.
The Microsoft Certified App developer, and the oracle java equivalents all stop at too low a level.
So how can the businesses and computer professionals create a system akin to builders where a ‘Master’ level expert can rate the achievements of less experienced and recognised programmers. So as to give the junior programmers flexibility to move between employers, to suit both their needs and that of the employers.
The suggestion is to use public git and bitbucket projects as a portfolio but most professional work will never be placed here for commercial reasons.
Is this the same Senator? http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056700153&page=2
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