by Stephen McCrea, Senior Manager in Fragomen’s Dublin office
Historically, Ireland has been known as a nation of emigration, with vibrant Irish immigrant communities established across the globe. Immigration, particularly business immigration, has not been a prominent topic in the country’s domestic political discourse.
However, the landscape has shifted in recent years. In 2024, Ireland has witnessed notable increases in both anti-immigration sentiment and inward migration. Despite these developments, candidates advocating for restrictive immigration policies did not achieve significant gains in the recent European and local authority elections.
Ahead of the election later this week, both major and minor parties have responded to increased public engagement on the topic of immigration, including key asks from non-governmental bodies, covered in the first part of this article series: Ireland’s 2024 General Election Part 1: Understanding Business Immigration Priorities from Irish NGOs. Part 2 of this series examines the key business immigration-related policy proposals from both of Ireland’s major parties and those that could join them in a coalition government.
The Major Parties
Irish politics, traditionally dominated by the rival parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, has recently undergone significant changes, moving away from this long running rivalry. This shift is exemplified by the outgoing historic coalition between Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. In addition, Sinn Féin, once considered a fringe player in Irish parliamentary politics, emerged as the largest party in the 2020 General Election and is currently polling in a near tie with its major competitors.
This evolving political landscape raises important questions for business immigration policy. The emerging divisions among the main parties—Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin—are expected to influence the immigration debate, likely becoming a focal point in future coalition negotiations.
As these three parties are the most likely to form the next government, below is a closer examination of their respective immigration proposals that may affect businesses in Ireland.
|
Fine Gael |
Fianna Fáil |
Sinn Féin |
|
| Employment Permits/Work Authorisation | Prioritise a skills-based and education-linked migration system that targets sectors with worker shortages (e.g., healthcare, engineering and construction) | Expand eligibility for employment permits to retail, hospitality, care and construction;
New IT system to streamline processing; Examine ways to make it easier for permit holder to change job |
The Sinn Féin manifesto does not contain proposals relation to eligibility for employment permits or other work authorisation categories |
| Travel & Visas | Fast track options for skilled professionals and an intention to expedite plans to merge visas with the employment permit process | Agree access to the EU Visa Information System to prevent “visa shopping” | The Sinn Féin manifesto does not contain proposals in relation to the visa process |
| Institutional Reform | Does not commit to the creation of new agencies or departments of government | Split the Department of Justice to create a Department of Domestic Affairs in addition to establishing a Border Management Agency to increase border security;
Increase carrier fines for allowing passengers to travel without correct documents to EUR 10,000 |
Merge immigration-related functions of multiple agencies into one new ‘Immigration Management Agency’ |
Major Parties’ Manifestoes
Fine Gael’s immigration strategy is centered around a skills-based migration system designed to address shortages in key sectors such as healthcare, technology, engineering and construction. The party plans to accelerate efforts to consolidate the visa and employment permit processes into a single streamlined application procedure, facilitating Ireland’s alignment with the EU Single Permit Directive.
Fine Gael also proposes fast-track visa options for high-demand sectors; however, it remains unclear whether these will apply exclusively to entry visas or how they will differ from the existing Trusted Partner Initiative.
Additionally, Fine Gael aims to integrate migration policy with Ireland’s education system, enabling international students in critical disciplines, particularly in STEM fields, to transition from student visas to permanent residency. However, the details of this commitment are vague, as Ireland currently does not offer permanent residency outside of specific EU frameworks.
Fianna Fáil emphasises the role of non-EU workers in key jobs and pledges to expand the employment permits system to new types of roles, including retail, hospitality, care work and construction – all of which the party considers vital to economic success. The party proposes to couple this with a new IT system for processing applications.
Additionally, Fianna Fáil intends to pursue significant reform by creating a Department of Domestic Affairs to handle (alongside policing and security matters) migration issues, including asylum, border control, human trafficking and integration. A new Border Management Agency will also be established to enhance security at ports of entry and counter terrorism and organized crime.
These proposed changes are notable, as significant changes have taken place throughout the last few years – with a large transformation plan being undertaken by the current Department of Justice and the creation of the Border Management Unit at Dublin Airport. How these proposals would fit into existing reform efforts remains to be seen.
Sinn Féin proposes managing immigration while having regard for the economy, public services, and integration capacity. The party promises to establish a new Immigration Management Agency, consolidating various immigration-related functions of multiple units across government. This agency will handle applications, enforcing rules, registering individuals and providing accommodation. This is the largest restructure proposed in the party manifestoes and is ambitious given its intention to unite police units, visa processes, border security, registration, workplace compliance and international protection in one large agency.
The Sinn Féin manifesto does not contain new proposals on Ireland’s work permit system, which is notable as the party opposed the passage of the Employment Permits Act this year. Finally, the party states its intention to explore requiring EU/EEA and Swiss citizens to register with officials on moving to Ireland. This would be a significant departure for Ireland, and significant blockers to this could exist under the EU Citizens’ Rights Directive and the EU Treaties given that no similar obligation exists in respect to Irish nationals.
The Smaller Parties
Several small parties are also vying for seats in the general election. This is important as none of the major parties will be able to form a government on their own. A coalition government is a certainty – and smaller parties will look to have their immigration policies implemented as part of government formation talks.
For this reason, it is crucial not only to focus on the major political parties, as smaller parties may play a significant role in influencing key policy objectives that could be incorporated into any future government programme.
Labour, Greens & Social Democrats
Three left-of-center parties—the Social Democrats, the Greens and Labour—share similar immigration policies. Labour leader Ivana Bacik has suggested forming a coalition among these parties to align on common goals.
The Greens and the Social Democrats propose expanding full family reunification rights to holders of General Employment Permits. This is notably topical as they remain the biggest remaining class of employment permit holders who must wait 12 months for their family to join them in Ireland.
Both Labour and the Greens advocate for an independent agency to manage migration and asylum, while the Social Democrats propose a full time Immigration Court. More practically, Labour supports increased funding for English language and civic classes for non-fluent immigrants. Labour opposes the rollout of the seasonal seasonal permit, while joined by the Social Democrats in advocating the granting of full labour market access to general employment permit holders after two years.
This latter proposal would be a significant change and, if enacted with the Green/Social Democrat proposal on family reunification, would represent a potential end to the advantageous status of the Critical Skills Employment Permit that currently exists.
People before Profit, a far-left party, proposes to allow immigrants living in Ireland to have a right to family reunification. The scope of this rule, and to which immigrants it would apply, is not clear. Additionally, the party supports repealing the provision of the Irish constitution that prevents children born in Ireland from automatically becoming Irish citizens
The party’s popularity is rooted strongly in Ireland’s rural areas and is considered a potential coalition partner with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Its policies on business immigration include expediting work permit applications and introducing supports for SMEs who rely on the system, while also somewhat counterintuitively proposing that incentives drawing economic migrants to Ireland be removed.
The party also plans to introduce a requirement for employers to demonstrate that a role cannot be filled by a European-citizen candidate before applying for an employment permit. The apparent intention here is to go further than the current Labour Market Needs Test requires.
Furthermore, Independent Ireland wishes to implement a requirement that permanent residence applicants must “take a six-month course on Irish history and culture and pass an exam.” Again, who this will be applied to is unclear, as Ireland does not have a class of immigration permission defined as ‘permanent residence.’
Another small party, generally considered to hold centre-left economic policies coupled with right wing social views, Aontú has proposed numerous policies which would represent a tightening of current immigration policies.
Firstly, similar to proposals from Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil, the party wishes to introduce a new Irish Border Agency. Further, Aontú wants to create an effective border between Great Britain and the island of Ireland to require all citizens, including Irish and British citizens who enjoy the right to travel under the Common Travel Area, to produce passports when travelling between the two islands. Under the Common Travel Area arrangement, this measure is not provided for, and it is difficult to see how it could be implemented under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement and its associated protocols (including the Windsor Framework).
Outside of these areas, the Aontú manifesto focuses mainly on International Protection / Asylum and does not provide proposals in relation to employment permits or other areas.
Looking Ahead
Irish elections are known for being increasingly difficult to predict, and which of these parties will form the next government remains to be seen. Given the public focus on immigration this year, it is unsurprising to see it featured heavily in manifestoes.
However, throughout many of the documents, there is a tendency to conflate different types of inward migration (e.g., international protection, employment permit holders, family reunification, etc.) under the catch all term of ‘immigration.’ This does a disservice to the many thousands of skilled individuals who arrive in Ireland, seeking to work lawfully and who are meeting a skills shortage.
As acknowledged by some parties, this work is key to Ireland’s success, and a strong and efficient work permit system coupled with and supported by a fair general immigration system is key to continuing this success.
It is, therefore, useful to understand the potential changes a future government may bring following the elections. In terms of the 2024 manifestoes’ effect on business immigration, no party proposes a significant rowing back of the current employment permit system, which is to be welcomed. While a rowing back of this system is not in the cards, only some parties make specific reference to expanding or supporting the system.
Additionally, key institutional reform and some rather dramatic changes are proposed to other areas which would affect business travel and the business immigration environment more generally. Whether any of these changes come about will only become known as the difficult task of forming a government starts in the coming weeks, and the ‘horse-trading’ of policy negotiation begins.
About the author
Stephen McCrea is a Senior Manager in Fragomen’s Dublin office and has more than 6 years’ experience in law and immigration. He assists large companies in Ireland’s booming technology space with their immigration processes, queries and compliance. In addition to client service delivery and managing a team, Stephen also has a particular focus on EU Treaty Rights and other residence permission applications and management of related compliance issues.
Prior to joining Fragomen, Stephen worked within the immigration practice of a Big Four firm. He has also worked as a barrister in private practice and as a legal consultant for the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) with particular expertise in immigration compliance and deportation matters.
