Hi there,
I think there may be some confusion with regards to Work Permits (WP) & Work Visa/Authorizations (in this case, WV). This is
my understanding of the situation:
Basically, the system is two-tiered, organized as the Irish gov't see the employment situation: WP are aimed at labour shortages & WV/WA are aimed at skill shortages. (Now, this is not to say that all people on WP are 'unskilled', far from it & not all people on WV/WA are the brightest bulb in the box either!) Anyway....
WP are very restictive & have become even more difficult to get as the Irish gov't introduced the rule that FAS (the Irish employment people) must be given first chance at offering 'your' position to an Irish citizen 1st, then an EU citizen before allowing you (the Non-EU national) to be offered the job. Once you apply for a WP, you must wait till it's approved (4-6weeks) before starting work. You cannot change jobs, new job = new WP. They are valid for max 1yr but can be renewed. All dealings are between your employer & the government, not you. Now, to direct the WP scheme in the way the gov't want it to go, they posted a number of ineligiable jobs, i.e you will NOT get a WP for the following job types (bar work, waitstaff, retail, childminder, builder, clerical, etc...the full list is on
www.entemp.ie. By applying this restiction, the gov't have pre-eliminiated a number of lower-paid, 'un-skilled' (not my word) non-nationals who will come into Ireland to work.
WV/WA are more liberal in that they are set up for positions that the Irish gov't feel are understaffed by way of skill shortage (Dr, nurses, IT professionals, etc) Because the gov't want these people, there are fewer restictions. You must apply in your home country via the Irish Embassy there before you come to Ireland. WV/AV are available for 2years each & can be renewed. You can change employers as long as you stay within the same skills category.
On the DETE (Dept. Enterprise, Trade & Employment) website, there is a document (dated July 2004!) that goes through a step-by-step process. The only reference to IT applicants is that WV/WA will only be granted to those titled either Information & computing technologies professionals (minimum Degree from recognized 3rd year institution) and Information & computing technologies technicians (minimun Diploma from recoginized 3rd year institution). There is no mention (well, not that I could see) to salary descriptions or minimum wage acceptance. Hmmm, maybe you should contact the DETE & ask them specifically where wage information is posted on the website?
THe DETE did announce in October 2005 that they were planning to introduce a new Green Card program involving a 3-Pillar Employment Permits Scheme which dealt with issues involving salary.
Pillar 1: restrictive for those making 30k-60k & more occupations open to those of 60k+, but still dealing with skills shortage.
Pillar 2: re-establish the Intra-company transfer scheme
Pillar 3: even more restictive WP scheme for those making up to 30k, but focused on labour shortage, rather than skills.
BUT, as far as I know, this has NOT been introduced yet, so it should not matter about your salary for the moment. Maybe they are starting it soon, I really don't know. I would contact the DETE for the most up-to-date information they have on the WV/WA.
Good luck with it.
Maria
