Employment Permits Act 2003

This Act was introduced to facilitate free access to the Irish labour market to nationals of the new EU Accession States after 1 May 2004. There are, therefore, no longer any requirements for citizens of those Member States to have work permits or visas. The Act also allows the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to re-impose a requirement for employment permits in respect of nationals of the Accession States post-2004, if the labour market is experiencing or is likely to experience a “disturbance”. The Act also incorporates a provision whereby, for the first time, the requirements for employment permits in respect of non-Irish nationals working in Ireland are set out in primary legislation, together with penalties for non-compliance by both employers and employees.