Employers seeking qualified accountants should consider recruiting from outside the EEA through the Critical Skills Employment Permit, writes Emma Richmond

With Ireland now at close to full employment, employers are increasingly facing challenges in recruiting suitably qualified staff to meet their needs. One area in which this challenge is becoming acute is in accountancy and finance. 

However, it doesn’t have to be that hard! One solution to tackle this is to broaden the recruitment pool by availing of a work permit to bring in a non-EEA worker to meet the requirement.

In recent times, there has been an increase in work permit applications from accountancy firms and, particularly those relating to suitably qualified audit staff. Figures published by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment show that, so far this year, almost 700 work permits have been issued in the finance sector.

Through the Critical Skills Work Permit, Irish government policy has strategically targeted the sectors most in need. 

The Government is using this permit to attract highly skilled people into the labour market where there are identifiable skills shortages, and with the aim of the holders taking up permanent residence in the State. 

The list of roles designated for a Critical Skills Work Permit is updated on a biannual basis following consultation with stakeholders with the aim of ensuring that the permit system is meeting the demands of the market at any given time.

The Critical Skills Employment Permit is the ‘golden ticket’ of work permits. It is available to individuals for a role with a minimum salary of €64,000 or where the role is listed on the Critical Skills Employment List and there is a minimum salary of €32,000. 

The advantage of this permit is that it offers a spousal permit to any spouse of the holder of the work permit. From the time of their arrival in Ireland, the holder will also begin gaining residency recognition for a future citizenship application. These elements make this type of permit very valuable and attractive to non-EEA nationals looking to relocate to Ireland on a permanent basis.

The more common work permit applications processed for accountancy firms relate to the following roles: 

• qualified accountants with at least three years’ auditing experience;
• chartered and certified accountants and those specialising in regulation, solvency or financial management; and
• taxation experts specialising in tax compliance.

These roles are all listed on the Critical Skills Employment List and, as such, these permits are granted with relative ease once all the necessary proofs and details have been provided in the application. The current processing time is two to three weeks from the date of application. 

It is worth noting that, depending on nationality, prospective employees may still need to apply for a visa if they are coming from a visa-required country, and this should be factored into the lead time when recruiting by this means.

The Critical Skills Work Permit provides a fast and effective way of bridging the gap between the demand for suitably qualified accountancy staff and the supply. 

Emma Richmond is a Partner with Whitney Moore