Technology Visa would accelerate growth in web sector

This week the Dublin Web Summit took place which is the largest tech conference in Europe. Over 200 international speakers have presented and 3,000 plus attendees were expected. These included CEOs behind heavy hitters like Twitter, Skype and Pinterest as well as start-up entrepreneurs and everything in between.

“The success of the Dublin Web Summit is indicative of Ireland’s stellar reputation in the technology sector. We have an opportunity here to nurture this thriving sector and the first thing that needs to be done is introduce a technology visa.

“Many businesses in Ireland are shutting their doors and traditional sectors are suffering. However in stark contrast, the ICT sector at this very moment has between 4,000 to 5,000 vacant positions that need to be filled.

“What I and many of the top people in the industry are calling for is a Technology Visa to be introduced for IT professionals.   This would enable highly skilled workers from abroad to work in jobs that cannot be filled due to the skills shortages in Ireland.

“The report which I wrote ‘A review of the ICT skills demand in Ireland’ was launched by the Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation last week and the benefits of a restricted Technology Visa were highlighted throughout my research.

“This will not mean people from abroad taking up jobs instead of Irish people rather they would temporarily fill these positions because we simply do not have the people to meet the high demand of the ICT sector.

“This is not just issue in Ireland there is a global shortage of workers who possess these types of skills. Ireland has the chance to have the advantage by implementing a system whereby technology workers can be relocated here.

“Ireland is fast becoming the technology hub of Europe, if people are recruited from abroad then this would result in a positive knock-off effect which creates jobs and money in the economy.

“However until we grow the graduates organically in Ireland by encouraging our best and brightest to study this thriving industry, a technology visa needs to be implemented immediately to take advantage of this ample opportunity.”