The theme of this year’s International Migrants Day (December 18th) is Harnessing the potential of human mobility. It is estimated that 3.6 per cent of the global population or 281 million people were international migrants in 2020. There are many factors that influence the movement of people; either voluntary or forced movements are a result of the increased magnitude and frequency of disasters, economic challenges and extreme poverty or conflict.
In Ireland, now a country of destination for migration, 12% of us were born elsewhere and moved to Ireland to make it our home. Migration has always been and continues to be extremely positive for Ireland. But migrants continue to face serious obstacles to integrating into the Irish workforce - reducing the single biggest opportunity for people to move out of a cycle of poverty and to fully contribute to society.
A recent report, Access, Progress, Thrive; Towards an Inclusive Labour Market in Ireland, which is available to view by clicking on this link, highlights the most common obstacles migrants face, including: how challenging it is to move into or progress in the labour market until people either successfully secured a stamp four or citizenship; that despite experience and qualifications, many immigrants remain underemployed and underpaid, due to a lack of recognition of qualifications, skills and experience; that racism and discrimination is a common occurrence in the Irish workplace, often justified as ‘teasing’ and ‘joking’ and that a lack of English language proficiency is a barrier to progression at work, to negotiating better terms and conditions and to accessing information and training.
What is the Irish Government doing?
The Migrant Integration Strategy (2017-2021) highlights a target of 1 per cent employment of EEA and people from ethnic minority communities in the civil service. This strategy sets out the Government’s commitment to the promotion of migrant integration and the realisation of a vision of Ireland as a society in which migrants play active roles in communities and workplaces. Across government, work is under way on actions arising from this strategy including mainstreaming integration; ensuring regular and meaningful consultation and engagement with migrant organisations on issues that affect them; ensuring access to public services; promoting social inclusion; provision of translation and interpretation services and provision of continuous inter-cultural staff training.
What is PublicJobs.ie doing?
Publicjobs.ie plays a vital role in recruiting diverse talent for the civil service and public sector. As recruiters and employers, we recognise and value the importance of attracting and welcoming a workforce that is responsive, accessible, resilient, and reflective of the communities it serves. We believe that a thriving, inclusive public service that is energised by the contribution of employees from all sectors of society leads to more innovative, productive workplaces and more responsive and inclusive policies, programs and services.
We launched our first ever ED&I strategy this year which outlines key areas for actions including gaining a greater knowledge and understanding of the Irish public sector workforce and recruitment pipelines (we are developing an Equality Monitoring Dashboard); ensuring our recruitment and selection processes encourage and enable access to candidates from diverse backgrounds (we are reviewing all our processes and policies in 2022) and finally modeling best practice in ED&I at PublicJobs.ie and supporting our clients in building public sector workplaces that embrace inclusion and reflect society (we continue to engage with and provide advice and guidance to clients, stakeholders and partners on inclusive recruitment and workplaces.
Publicjobs.ie is committed to equality of opportunity for all and to ensuring that no unnecessary barriers are imposed on those who wish to pursue a career in Ireland’s civil service or public sector. We have a key role to play in attracting candidates from all sectors of Irish society and harnessing the potential of human mobility to help shape and deliver the services of the future for this country.
Additional Information, Links & Resources
Citizenship Eligibility Criteria
For many of our roles, the eligibility requirement includes people awarded protection under the International Protection Act 2015 or family members entitled to remain in Ireland due to family reunification. General Service grades in the Civil Service, and other roles, are open to applicants that are, by the date of any job offer:
(a) A citizen of the European Economic Area. The EEA consists of the Member States of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway; or
(b) A citizen of the United Kingdom (UK); or
(c) A citizen of Switzerland pursuant to the agreement between the EU and Switzerland on the free movement of persons; or
(d) A non-EEA citizen who is a spouse or child of an EEA or UK or Swiss citizen and has a stamp 4 visa; or
(e) A person awarded international protection under the International Protection Act 2015 or any family member entitled to remain in the State as a result of family reunification and has a stamp 4 visa or
(f) A non-EEA citizen who is a parent of a dependent child who is a citizen of, and resident in, an EEA member state or the UK or Switzerland and has a stamp 4 visa
Information on the International Protection Act 2015, with a link to the Information Booklet for those wishing to apply for protection is available on this International Protection Office Link.
For more information please see the below links:
- Click on this link to the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland website
- Click on this link to read the report on Access, Progress, Thrive: Towards an Inclusive Labour Market in Ireland
- Click on this link to view the Employing International Protection Applicants - Employer Guide by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
- Click on this link to the Migrant Integration Strategy 2017-2021
- Click on this link to the United Nations website about International Migrants Day 2021
Click on this link to view Publicjobs.ie submission to the public consultation on the National Anti-Racisms Plan for Ireland