An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Open Ireland founder Sean O'Sullivan

Great news to share about the “Tech Visa”

from Sean O’Sullivan, co-founder of Open Ireland [1]

Open Ireland was founded to campaign for measures to help make Ireland the ‘Silicon Valley’ of Europe. Central to all of this was the Open Ireland proposals for a radical overhaul of the employment permit systems, with the introduction of what has been dubbed a ‘Technology Visa’.

Since May of last year, Open Ireland has spearheaded a campaign to encourage the Government to do just that. And, from inviting Open Ireland to present at the annual Fine Gael think-in, to countless sessions in meetings in the Oireachtas, meetings with leading civil servants at Departments, with Associations and industry groups, to a special Oireachtas committee meeting on the matter, they have listened and they have acted.

Last week, Minister Richard Bruton and Minister Ruairi Quinn announced a package of measures for the ICT sector, all aimed at helping to make Ireland the internet capital of Europe.

Ireland is already a magnet for technology companies from all over the world – what these changes do is strengthen Ireland as a hub of technology by enabling highly experienced technical experts from all over the world to come and set up and join the businesses here. This measure will create jobs immediately as our sector already has thousands of vacant positions.

We all know that there is a global demand for high-tech skills for the technology sector. The changes introduced will increase Ireland’s attractiveness as a location for international talent that is mobile.

What Has been Done?

Over 50% of the rules for work permits have been revised and simplified, and these are effective from April 10th.  The Department of Jobs has declared processing changes which are already being felt, as the waiting time for work visas is reported to be far faster already (on the order of two weeks), and the variety of forms used will be reduced from three to one in an upcoming electronic version of the work visa, dramatically reducing the complexity of the application process when it goes into effect.

Not all the changes have been made, and the biggest change is yet to be made in simplifying the process for Enterprise Ireland and IDA-sponsored companies to speed up the verification process.  In the near future, the gold standard will be that a technology company in Ireland will know that when they give a job offer to a qualified candidate in one of these highly sought after and understaffed fields, that the government will treat the companies as trusted partners and grant the visa, as long as there are no security concerns or other violations of national policy.  This near-certainty of tech visas being granted to valid candidates will make Ireland the world leader in the ease of allowing these highly-sought-after individuals to call Ireland home.

Other changes are already instituted to reduce the difficulty in employing skilled workers in Ireland, from wherever they come from, and particularly if they studied at Irish colleges, are now also in place.

Onward, Faster & Stronger, Ireland  

For Ireland, the way out of our economic challenges is through growth. The suite of changes introduced and which are already operational, trades on Ireland’s strategy to be the best place to start and grow tech businesses.  

Ireland is already a magnet for technology companies from all over the world. What this radical revamping of the permitting system enables is for these businesses to grow faster and create more jobs in Ireland. We applaud the government for making changes that strengthen Ireland as a hub of technology by enabling highly experienced technical experts from all over the world to come and set up and join the businesses here. And instead of Irish companies and US multinationals based in Ireland having to outsource jobs to other countries, Ireland’s technology sector will more readily be able to employ people locally. 

The Government have acknowledged that with this radical revamping of the employment permit system, it enables businesses to grow faster and create more jobs in Ireland. International research has shown that for every high-tech job created, a further 4-5 jobs are created elsewhere in the economy.  

The changes are part of Action Plan for Jobs 2013.

To read more about the changes and for further information please visit:

http://www.djei.ie/publications/labour/2013/newemploymentpermitapplicationform-apr2013.pdf

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/NEW%20INITIATIVES%20BETWEEN%20THE%20DEPARTMENT%20OF%20JUSTICE%20AND%20EQUALITY%20(INIS)%20AND%20THE%20DEPARTMENT%20OF%20JOBS,%20ENTERPRISE%20AND%20INNOVATION

http://www.enterprise.gov.ie/News/2-000-additional-ICT-graduates-to-be-provided-in-the-coming-year-as-part-of-Government-drive-to-make-Ireland-the-internet-capital-of-Europe-–-Minister-Quinn-Minister-Bruton.html

The Irish Government is to shake up the work permit processing system in a bid to attract overseas workers to fill skill gaps in crucial areas like ICT and engineering. The move has been identified as a key facet of the Irish Government’s Action Plan to create 100,000 jobs by 2015.

When I came to Ireland in 2006, to start a technology company here, I was amazed at the wealth of talent that Ireland had in the area of software – and in fact, high tech in general. The number of companies operating here is phenomenal. At the time, I didn’t imagine that that such a great strength could also create a great weakness. But it has.

The reality is that Ireland’s success in high tech has resulted in full employment in the high tech sector. This is particularly true in the area of design engineers, the people who write the software and design the hardware systems that power the world’s information economy. That’s a great success — but it sets the stage for a bigger failure. We have created so many jobs in this sector, we can’t possibly fill them ourselves or from the EU. But our visa policies don’t allow us to fill these jobs with people from non-EU countries, no matter how clear it is that by doing so, we create employment for our own. Initially, I presumed it was just my own company, Avego, that was experiencing this problem. But over the years, sitting on corporate and educational boards from Dublin to Cork, I heard the same refrain. So when I finally spoke out about the problem, people from the smallest Irish technology companies to the biggest multinationals, from government organizations and educational institutions to semi-states, said “amen.”

It’s mind-boggling. Why, amid all the economic doom and gloom we hear about, are we constraining the growth of a sector that is doing well and could be doing better? A sector that hasn’t experienced the recession, that has grown in spite of it, and is so clearly in a position to help lead Ireland out of it?

Buckminster Fuller, quoted above, had it right. We can’t fix a universal, chronic pain with a minor tweak to a dysfunctional system. We need to reinvent the “tech visa” solution to create a flow of talented people that will not only help relieve Ireland’s tech sector and get the economy going, but also elevate Ireland’s role in the world.

The shortage of technical talent is the undisputed biggest problem in the expansion of the technology sector. Something big needs to be done about it.

Enter Open Ireland.

Open Ireland aims to facilitate the entry of tech talent from overseas, with the introduction of a Technology Visa for Ireland. We have great talent in Ireland, but don’t — yet! — have enough of it to maximize the economic opportunity that we have right here and now. We urgently need software developers, UX designers, growth hackers and product management engineers. For every talented software developer Avego hires in Cork, other jobs are created for Irish workers, both in the company and in the community around it. And Avego is one of only 5,000 ICT companies in Ireland!

The cost to introduce such a Technology Visa scheme in Ireland is zero. The potential benefit is immeasurable.

Software companies in Ireland, both Irish and international, cannot grow without software developers. They are the anchor for our companies, the foundation on which our ICT companies are built. In my own company, Avego, based in Cork, these software developers are directly responsible for over 40 Irish jobs. In Ireland, there are already over 75,000 jobs throughout the ICT sector. And these numbers could be much higher.

Without a sufficient supply of software developers, companies are forced to outsource much of the development work. Everything in a software company is built around its development talent, akin to the roles played by highly experienced site engineers and architects on a major civil engineering or infrastructure project. Without the core talent, there is no work for the skilled tradesmen, general operatives, and back office functions, irrespective of how good those components are. We need to attract the most talented technology workers to our shores. It is they who will help create tens of thousands of additional jobs for our Irish graduates and for the workers who are being retrained in the technology sector.

The good news is, we’ve got plenty of political support, from government and opposition quarters alike. Open Ireland representatives have met with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny; with representatives from Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Independent members of the Oireachtas. We have briefed An Taoiseach and Government Ministers, Government Departments, Government agencies, business organizations such as IBEC, American Chamber of Commerce and the trade union SIPTU. They get it: a Technology Visa is a game changer, a competitive advantage, and a no-brainer for Ireland. We need to introduce it now.

Minister Richard Bruton as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has been enthusiastically and publicly supportive. Many of his colleagues in the Oireachtas have gone so far as to urge him to act quickly on this.

On 10th October last the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation published a very detailed and well-thought-out report entitled “A review of the ICT skills demand in Ireland”.

The report recommends “There continues to be a need to attract highly skilled technology workers from abroad. The development of a Technology Visa for IT professionals would enable such workers to come and fill the temporary skills shortage in Ireland.”

The unions, too, see the huge potential for job creation with this. On Thursday last, I spoke at an event organized by Ireland’s largest trade union, SIPTU, about Open Ireland. There is a real alliance across all parts of our economy to harness the strengths of our country to get us out of the dire economic situation we face.

The question now is: when? When will the Technology Visa scheme be introduced? There is absolutely no logic in allowing the thousands of unfilled jobs, as set out in the Oireachtas report, to remain unfilled. The “knock-on” effect is strangling the growth of the high tech industry in Ireland. Filling these positions will immediately help create additional and spin-off jobs in our ICT companies. The time is now.

Due in Dublin in the coming weeks is former United States Congressman Bruce Morrisson, pioneer of the very successful (US) Morrison Visa scheme. Minister Bruton, what better occasion to announce Ireland’s own High Technology Visa?

-Sean O’Sullivan, MD Avego; founder Open Ireland.

“I welcome the Report of Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, ‘A review of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills demand in Ireland’ and look forward to meeting with the Committee shortly to discuss its findings.

Ireland has to compete with other countries for migrant labour, particularly in respect of high-level skills. Skills required in the high-tech sectors are in demand and in short supply globally. While increasing the supply of high-level skills from domestic sources is the most sustainable way forward in the long term, in the short term, there continues to be a need to supplement Ireland’s skills stock through employment permits and to ensure that Ireland’s employment permits system is geared towards attracting such skills.

Current Government policy is to issue employment permits for the employment of non-EEA nationals for specific vacancies and in response to employer demand for strategic skills and labour shortages in designated occupations in key economic sectors such as health care, information technology and financial services.

The employment permits regime is supporting the enterprise sector and significant levels of applications are successful particularly those based on high skills levels. My Department’s figures indicate:

- A reduction in total applications in line with economic circumstances, but an increase in Green Card applications, in line with a greater emphasis on high value skills; – An increase in the proportion of applications in respect of ICT job roles with applications in respect of ICT job roles being more successful than the norm. Over 90% of ICT related applications are successful and over 1,200 ICT related applications have been approved so far this year.

The Department of Justice and Equality is responsible for the implementation of policy in relation to the admission of non-EEA nationals to the State and their residence in the State. There can be some confusion with regard to the term ‘IT Visa’ as it is suggestive of a visa-based immigration system. However, the employment permit regime provides for a managed system regarding entry to Ireland’s labour market as well as powers for enforcement of employment rights. Economic migrants are a vulnerable class of people. Any actions affecting inward economic migration should be cognisant of the need to ensure that such migrants are protected and made aware of their employment rights.

Therefore, we should examine how the employment permits regime can be adjusted in order to facilitate attracting highly sought skills. Even further, we should facilitate all highly sought skills, not just those relating to the ICT sector.

My Department has reviewed its processes with a view to attracting more ICT related applications and other applications regarding highly sought skills and is confident that significant improvements can be made shortly which will greatly enhance the employment permits regime, for example:

- In conjunction with Forfás, a review is underway of the Green Card Employment Permit Scheme which is used by Ireland to meet labour market requirements where skills shortages have been identified by reference to analyses undertaken by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs.

- An interim review of the four core employment permit types – Green Cards, Intra-Company Transfers, Work Permits and Spousal/Dependents – has identified a variety of means to improving the throughput and quality of employment permit applications. Such an initiative would favour the ICT sector in particular as it would include a streamlining of the documentary process, a reduction in the time it takes for applicants to prepare a successful application, and a significant reduction in processing times.

- Closer interactions are being cultivated with the Department of Justice and Equality with a view to providing a more coherent service across the employment permit regime and visa regime including policy convergence, greater information sharing and unified communications from both Departments in respect of labour market access.

I intend to announce a range of improvements in this regard shortly.

It is also the Government’s ambition that Ireland should take advantage of the opportunities for employment in the ICT sector and that every opportunity is afforded to our graduates and unemployed to prepare them with the skills required to work in that sector. Employment permits are but one way of increasing the level of ICT skills available in the labour market and I am mindful that improvements in the regime must be done in a manner that does not undermine the work of my colleague the Minister for Education and Skills to increase domestic supply through our education system and targeting of the unemployed. In that regard, the Minister for Education and Skills has already put in place plans to establish an overarching target of doubling the annual output from honours degree ICT undergraduate programmes to 2,000 graduates by 2018. These plans involve actions to:

- increase the domestic supply of honours degree graduates in the short term through expansion of conversion; and

- boost the longer term supply and quality of graduates from the higher education system.

Finally, work is also proceeding in my Department with regard to the preparation of new employment permits legislation which will provide for more flexibility and targeted instruments in support of the economy’s evolving skills needs. Heads of Bill were approved by Government last April and since then, my Department has been engaged with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in order to progress the drafting of the Bill.”

Sean addressed the members of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party during the session ‘Getting Ireland back to Work’, and spoke alongside Richard Bruton, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation. Highlighting the key role of software developers, he stated “These software developers, if in employment with Avego (one of Sean’s Companies) or any other company, will help ensure the hiring of many Irish (even those with little industry experience), as each experienced software developer builds a team around them and strengthens the prospects for our companies, working on new projects, new services and helping to create and sustain employment.” 

Reiterating many points set in his letter to Oireachtas members earlier in the year when he stated “To be blunt and to state the blindingly obvious, software companies in Ireland, both Irish and international, require software developers to continuously grow and innovate. These software developers are the anchor for our companies. They are the employees on which the companies are built. They are responsible for the 40+ jobs in Ireland at Avego and they are responsible for the 75,000+ jobs throughout the ICT sector. Everything is built on them. Without software developers, we have no technology sector in Ireland and the companies that require software developers are forced to outsource much of the development work. The current systems failures and debacle within Ulster Bank has been reported as a case of outsourcing software and IT development.”

He stated that companies are missing out on new projects and expansion because of skills shortage and the growth of the sector is being seriously hampered, as many companies are forced to outsource crucial ICT functions overseas – sometimes to other EU countries in Eastern Europe, and sometimes to the Far East.

This is why it is such an opportunity for Ireland, if we can become known as the first English-speaking country in the world with an open door for the world’s best & brightest tech talent

According to Sean, “The first country in Europe to do this will benefit from incredible growth and employment potential.”

• If we issue 5,000 visas we can create 20,000 jobs
• If we issue 15,000 visas we can create 60,000 jobs
• If we issue 25,000 visas we can create 100,000 jobs*

[*Jobs for every 1 ICT job created. Source: PWC]”

In a letter to members of the Oireachtas in July last, Sean outlined proposals that if introduced would see Ireland become the Silicon Valley of Europe. Central to all of this is the introduction of a Technology Visa scheme to fill the existing and future vacancies that exist in the technology sector.

A short video on how the visa could work and the benefits to the economic was also presented at the event; the video can be viewed on YouTube

However, it’s not all bad news. Recent figures from the IDA for Autumn 2012 have shown how important Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) continues to be for the Irish economy.

According to the IDA, 2011 was a record year for FDI and there has also been strong investment flows in the first half of 2012. FDI accounts for a total of 250,000 jobs (146,000 direct employment and 104,000 indirect) and that €2.8 billion was paid in corporation tax by foreign multinationals.

More positive figures showed that IDA client companies contributed €115 billion in estimated exports and €6.9 billion in payroll. The ICT industry, according to IBEC, is responsible for approximately 25% of Ireland’s total turnover, that´s one third of Ireland’s exports by value.

To summarise it all, there was a record 148 investments secured last year.

These figures prove that if Ireland is to grow its domestic economy, it is essential that we ensure these companies remain here and that we continue to attract more to locate in Ireland. We are currently home to the top 10 Global ICT companies. As the figures show that´s a lot of jobs and corporate tax contributions.

The only obstacle holding us back is that there are still serious concerns about the availability of skilled workers here, especially in our high growth ICT sector where, according to a FAS report released last month, the “demand is greater especially for experienced personnel who are in demand and short supply globally.”

The same report noted that “ICT skills continued to account for the largest share of skills sourced abroad.”

Last Thursday (16th August) The Irish Independent reported that despite students scoring record level success in higher level maths this year “there are worries of possible skills shortgages because of a poor uptake in science subjects and languages at second-level schools.”

This could discourage more multinationals from investing here if they believe that they might not be able to recruit qualified workers. The result of a booming ICT sector and a low number of people doing IT courses has already resulted in thousands of jobs in the ICT sector going unfilled. We need to solve this problem as soon as possible if we are to keep these multinationals here, while also allowing the over 5,000 and growing, Irish technology companies, access the talent required to grow their businesses.

Falling Behind

Germany, Italy and France have already adopted measures to help solve their skilled worker shortage by introducing the EU Blue Card scheme earlier this month. Ireland decided to opt out of the scheme in 2007, but with skilled workers in short supply globally it is crucial that we introduce the proposed ´tech visa´ if we are to compete with other nations.

Economist Constantin Gurdgiev commented in a recent Irish Times article about the current skill shortages:

“It will take too long to address this skills deficit through the education system. By the time you produce graduates and train them, you are looking five years down the line and our growth is going to be stalled in the meantime. We are competing for human capital and we need to be ahead of the curb.”

Even though our domestic economy is having huge difficulties, we can fix it by attracting more FDI. We cannot allow these companies to leave Ireland, but if they can´t access the workforce we might be facing that possibility.

The “technology visa” can solve the skills problem in the short-term. The visa will secure our future by ensuring these multinationals continue to invest here, growing our domestic economy and continuing to create jobs.

This gives cause to think about what Ireland can learn from American’s leanings and learnings.  What can we do to strengthen our tech sector even further?

The United States doesn’t have a monopoly on ideas or talent.   Only 14% of the US population was born outside the US. Yet, 38% of the people who live in San Jose, at the heart of Silicon Valley, come from other countries.  Here’s the real shocker: up to an amazing 50% of high tech start-ups in California are created or co-founded by people born outside the US.  How can this be?

The lesson is simple.  Immigration is great for business. But what is it about immigrants in the United States that enables these people to be such great creators of companies and innovation?

Well, for one thing, it’s the smashing together of cultures and ideas that often provides the most fertile ground for innovation… and for taking risk.  The status quo can be a terribly soul-destroying place.  But immigrants, combined with other immigrants and locals, can spark a mixture of ideas and cultures that break the mold.

It’s not just in technology that this holds true.  Remarkably, the book Ulysses, regarded as one of the best works in the English language, was written by an emigrated Irishman living in continental Europe, centered about a Jew in Dublin, and was first made widely available in the US.

The US is a country of immigrants, and that’s led to its strength and success. Immigrants were founders in companies such as eBay, Facebook, Google, and many more. And that’s no surprise: the US is known for its technology sector, and thus it draws people who are so inclined.

At least it always has done. Historically, America has been good at welcoming high-economic-value immigrants.  But since 9/11, America has tightened its borders significantly and it has gotten a lot worse at taking advantage of the inflow of talented workers. Bluntly stated, America’s mistake can be Ireland’s opportunity.

What are “high economic value immigrants”?  In general it’s the kind of people who create jobs by being present in an economy.  Typically, this includes highly educated tech workers and others in the manufacturing sector, who generate 4-6 new jobs per job they take.

Clearly, not every immigrant coming into Ireland is creating jobs. The challenge for our government is to differentiate between the high value economic immigrants, and hold the door open for them; while not providing the excessive benefits that attract less economically dynamic  immigrants whose tax contributions offer little to the exchequer.

There are 700,000 people in Ireland who weren’t born here… coming primarily from EU countries.   To let in an additional 20,000 high-value tech workers wouldn’t even be noticeable, except in providing a huge benefit to our economy.

Ireland now has an historic opportunity to take action to draw some of the global talent pool towards ourselves.  But we must act quickly. The ingredients in the Irish stew are very good: a great base of technology talent due to the incredibly strong presence of leading multinationals and Irish indigenous companies; a strong “open for business” attitude in the government that increases Irish competitiveness; and our people, who remain some of the world’s most creative… thanks in no small part to the increasing diversity our population has achieved over the past few decades of opening up.

This is what Open Ireland is all about: building on the strengths of the IT sector in Ireland to generate 100,000 jobs for the domestic employment base.  If we could fill the 20,000 existing and upcoming vacancies in the tech sector with the best and brightest English-speaking talent in the world, we would be able to drive the economy forward in a concrete and substantial way… and set ourselves up to be the “Silicon Valley” of Europe.

Open Ireland has already had promising talks with government ministries on this issue.  With any luck, you’ll be hearing more about the unveiling of a tech visa in the coming months, to help strengthen this already-strong sector of our economy, to help it grow more rapidly, more sustainably, and provide more jobs for more Irish people.

Healy Eames spoke about the growth in the IT sector and the opportunities that we are currently missing out on:

“The IT and high-tech sectors have been identified by the Government for the growth opportunities they present. We need to do everything we can to support high-potential, Irish start-ups and attract innovative global companies to these shores.

“I intend to ask Minister Bruton to consider introducing a technology visa in the short-term until we are able to fill those positions ourselves.”

Murphy also spoke about his support for the tech visa and how spin off jobs would be created in other sectors from the introduction of such a visa:

“I know the Minister has been briefed on the technology visa, but I urge him to take part in any conversation or discussion he can with the Minister for Justice and Equality to see that we can move to such a scheme. This would be a welcome part of the many measures the Minister is introducing in these exceptional circumstances to help tackle the unemployment crisis. This is important for all of us.

“Some 5,000 technology visas would create 20,000 jobs. Studies done indicate that for every one job created in the IT sector, a further four jobs are created. This is significant. Often, when people talk about the technology sector and technology jobs, they say it is specific and only applies to a certain category of people. However, it is the knock-on jobs created from those technology jobs being here that are significant.”

Healy Eames also spoke about the lack of skilled IT workers currently in Ireland and that a tech visa is essential to filling these job vacancies:

“A successful Galway businessman has told me that he just can’t find the IT analytics talent here at this point to drive his business forward. Furthermore, an IBEC survey has found that 95% of companies surveyed feel there is a lack of technological talent here. The 79 companies surveyed had almost 700 vacancies to fill, and nearly all of them said they feel there is a lack of technological talent here. Three quarters of the firms have recruited from outside the EU and almost half of them have outsourced, due to a lack of talent.

“These findings are quite stark. If we are failing to meet the needs of these companies and others, we are stifling business and jobs growth. In the long-term, we want to fill these vacancies with Irish graduates…but in the meantime, we need to ensure we are not missing out on investment opportunities.”

Murphy also addressed the serious problem of a lack of skilled workers here and that a technology visa is essential to growing Ireland’s economy:

“We are aware we have underemployment in the IT sector. The figures we have for this are approximately 2,200. However, when one speaks to anyone working in the sector, one hears the figures are quite a bit higher.

“We have a start-up entrepreneur visa scheme and an investor visa scheme…however, it is not just enough to invite an entrepreneur to come here and start a business. That is the reason the proposed technology visa is so important. It would be a specific visa for people working in the technology sector, with certain criteria that would allow people come in to work in these new Irish companies or to fill vacancies in indigenous companies.”

You can read more on Senator Healy Eames here and watch the clip of Eoghan Murphy, TD speaking about Open Ireland in the Dáil

Sean O’Sullivan took to the airwaves last week (4th of July, 2012), when he appeared on the ‘Coleman At Large’ show on Newstalk. During the interview Sean explained how the economy would benefit if we open our borders to the world’s top technology talent and extolled his belief that Ireland can become the “Silicon Valley of Europe”.
“The challenge for us in the high tech sector is to develop a more qualified country of people who are going through second and third level education,” explained Sean on the show. “Creating 100,000 jobs is a big but realistic target and we could do it in 1-3 years. That would make a huge dent in the live register if we can achieve that.
“This is a very achievable target. The head of the IDA Barry O’Leary said that 13,000 jobs could have been created here in 2011 if the IT skills were available and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

When asked by presenter, Marc Coleman, how this is possible Sean explained the current growth in the manufacturing sector.
“The high tech export orientated manufacturing sector is in full employment and has large growth. It’s the locomotive that can drag us kicking and screaming out of unemployment and onto the path to recovery.
“The goal is that if you can fill all of these positions, which haven’t been filled due to a lack of skilled labours, you can generate five times as many jobs. There will be 20,000 openings in the next year in the high tech sector.”

Marc queried if there would be jobs for Irish people too or just the skilled workers that come in.“In the short term, the majority of jobs are going to have to be filled by talent from overseas,” answered Sean but “If we can fill these positions it will generate the jobs for the retailers, the butchers and the bakers.
“People want to come to Ireland from all over the world. If we can get some of the top graduates from the top Universities in the world, that will make a huge difference to the Irish economy. Right now we are not doing a good job of letting them in. We are holding back the acceleration our high tech sector is trying to achieve.
“We have ten of the top tech companies in the world here. We even have indigenous companies that are trying to grow but can’t find the talent.  One of the things that makes America great is the huge amount of cultures from all around the world.”

Sean took to the stage to explain what he believes the Government can do to help IT companies in Ireland fill the thousands of existing jobs which is estimated at 20,000.

According to Sean, the crucial next step for the Government it to issue a special Technology Visas for skilled workers to make it easier for them to work and live in Ireland.

These changes would benefit both the local and national economy by creating additional jobs in other sectors. For every one job created in ICT, a conservative estimate suggests 4 jobs in the real economy would be generated e.g. taxis, hair dressers, cinemas, Restaurants, phone & cable providers, coffee shops, retail sector not to mention factories being built, homes being purchased, architect jobs, legal jobs, engineering jobs… the list goes on.

The forum re-emphasised our belief that Ireland can solve its economic crisis by becoming the “Silicon Valley of Europe” by opening its doors to people with specific technical and scientific skills that are currently not available in Ireland. This was highlighted by Denis Collins, Chairman of it@cork European Tech Cluster, as he presented details of research from PWC, which outlined the opportunity that exists if we bring the world’s top technology talent to our shores. Collins stated “if we can get this right, we can help the Government to bridge the budget deficit, while also having an immediate and long term impact on our sector and our economy.”

We heard earlier this year of the lost opportunities already, when CEO of the IDA Barry O’Leary noted in a radio interview that “there would have been more than 13,000 new jobs last year if there had been a greater availability in the skills arena”. We cannot afford to allow any more jobs to be unfilled.

The Forfás ‘Key Skills for Enterprise to Trade Internationally’ report , released earlier this month, shows that the IT sector has the most positive employment outlook with employment levels expected to increase by between 15% – 20% over the next three years within the sector.

The opportunity is there, the jobs are there, the skilled workers are there. All we need to do now is open Ireland.

Below are some pictures from the event: