The Government announced on the 16th December 2011 that the current restriction on access to the Irish labour market for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals is to continue until the end of 2013.
Free Movement of Persons and the Bulgarian/Romanian Restriction
From the 1st January 2007, on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, citizens of these countries were covered by the provisions of the European Free Movement of Persons Directive. This meant that they had the same rights of access to Ireland as a citizen of the existing EU Member States with the exception of access to the labour market. However, on the 17th December 2008 the Government announced the decision that from the 1st January 2009, it would continue to restrict access to the Irish labour market for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals. The restriction was that Bulgarian and Romanian nationals would require a work permit to take up employment in Ireland and that this work permit would be subject to the current requirement for a labour market test. However, the work permit requirements only apply for the first twelve months of continuous employment and then after the twelve month period the Bulgarian or Romanian national will be free to work in Ireland without a work permit.
Serious Disturbance in the Irish Labour Market
The treaties that govern Bulgarian and Romanian accession to the European Union allow for a seven year transition period before their nationals have full access to the labour markets of other EU Member States and that this transition period was to end on the 1st January 2014. However, each EU Member State was required to grant full access to the labour market by the 1st January 2012, unless the EU Member State was confronted with a serious disturbance to their labour market. The Department of Justice stated that Ireland is facing such a disturbance with unemployment rates at 14.4% and therefore notified the European Union of the decision to maintain the current framework governing labour market access to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals. Ireland is one of ten Member States that have maintained restrictions to date on full access to their labour markets.
Conclusion
In conclusion, until the end of 2013 all Bulgarian and Romanian nationals will still continue to require a work permit for the first twelve months of continuous employment in Ireland which will continue to be subject to the normal eligibility criteria. At the end of the twelve month period a Bulgarian or Romanian national will be free to work in Ireland without any further need for an employment permit. Employers should be conscious, therefore, of the following:
- That all Bulgarian/Romanian employees are required to have a work permit for the first 12 months of continuous employment in Ireland
- That the requirement set out in (a) will be removed by the end of 2013 thereby ensuring that Bulgaria/Romanian employees will have open access to the Irish Labour Market
