Retaining chartered accountants on the Critical Skills Occupations list
The Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, responded to the public consultation launched by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to review the eligibility of occupations appearing on the Critical Skills Occupations List.
Although chartered and certified accountants currently feature on this list, due to the ongoing capacity shortages being experienced across the profession, our response sets out reasoning for accountants to remain on this list going forward.
Occupations included on the Critical Skills Occupations List are highly skilled occupations which are experiencing labour or skill shortages in respect of qualifications, experience, or skills and which are required for the proper functioning of the Irish economy.
From our engagement with members, it is clear that despite active recruitment efforts, there is still a significant shortage of suitably qualified professionals to fill the number of current vacancies available in the market. As a result, this has led to an increased dependency on non-EEA hires to help bridge the gap left in the domestic labour market.
CCAB-I believes that this problem will only be compounded by global trends and challenges, particularly in the areas of sustainability and climate change. Great reliance will be placed on the accounting sector to navigate these threats; thereby heightening the need for accountants to remain on the list.
You can read the full submission here.