While public concerns over the impact of immigration continue to feature prominently in polling data, our elected representatives for the most part – whatever the posturing of some – are happy to facilitate and lobby for further liberalisation of the system where it relates to immigration not connected to asylum seeking.
Although there has been some recent reference to the large numbers of people whose entry and status in the State is connected to English language courses, there has been no interrogation of the role that higher level courses play in shaping the composition of the workforce.
The numbers of overseas students enrolled here has risen exponentially over the past decade. There are no figures available yet for 2025/26 enrolments, but last year’s record figure of 44,535 – itself up 10% from the previous year – seems likely to be surpassed.
Overseas students accounted for 16% of higher education enrolments last year. Two statistics have particular relevance to students who work while studying and who remain here after their course has ended.
These are that around three quarters of overseas students come from outside of the EU. The second stand out figure is that the overseas students are almost equally divided 51:49 between undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The proportion and numbers of post graduate students has risen steadily and has facilitated what some claim to be a means of coming to Ireland to study but with a view to obtaining employment here without having to be issued with a work permit while still living abroad.
The way to do this is first of all being first granted a Stamp 2 visa which allows a person to come to live in the Irish state as a student. Graduates can then apply for a Stamp 1G visa. According to some people with an insight into this, it is not unusual for persons living overseas to leave employment and to pay to be enrolled in a course in a related discipline in Ireland. They are then in effect bolstering their actual work experience with a recognised qualification.
Being issued with a Stamp 1G visa enables them to be employed for up to 40 hours a week without needing to have a work permit, and to bring family members with them. When the period of study – typically up to two years but which can be extended and is reckonable for citizenship applications – people with a Stamp 1G visa can apply for Stamp 4 residency which makes it easy to accumulate the five years required to become a citizen.
There are no current statistics for the numbers of persons with Stamp 1G visas who remain in Ireland but the Higher Education Authority reported that, of the class of 2020 graduates, 72% who had completed a Level 9 Masters course were working in Ireland.
Given the high proportion of persons with Stamp 1G visas who complete post graduate courses in Information Technology and related areas, this further accelerates the trend also seen in the official work permits statistics for an increasing swathe of jobs to be taken by persons from overseas.
An informed source has told me that the vast majority of domestic applications and appointments here – as opposed to persons who come from outside of the EU/EEA having been issued with a work permit – are from and to graduates who have come to Ireland and have obtained a Stamp 1G visa.
Yet, far from this being regarded as a possible problem when it comes to the employment of young Irish people it has generally been regarded across the political and employment and education sector as an unqualified good.
Since January 2017 there have been 111 references in Dáil questions and answers to Stamp 1G visas. None of them have been critical and during that period as with the work permit legislation there has been further significant loosening of the criteria that apply both to the students who are issued with a Stamp 1G and their ability to bring with them family members.
Of the many Dáil questions asked regarding Stamp 1G most have concerned what the TD regards as undue delays or restrictions. None of them have asked whether any of this might actually be a good idea in terms of the radical shifts in demographics, third level education, and employment which exist cheek by jowl with large numbers of young Irish ‘competitors’ in those sectors deciding to leave the State for various reasons, not least the availability of housing.
A typical example of a parliamentary exchange on Stamp 1G took place on March 3 when Sinn Féin Dublin West TD, Paul Donnelly – a chap who has been noticeably less revisionist than Matt Carthy and others when it comes to all things Diverse – asked the Minister for Justice if he would “introduce a bridging right to work for international graduates (details supplied) on Stamp 1G who have submitted valid, in-time applications, similar to maintained status in Canada, Section 3C leave in the United Kingdom, Bridging Visa A in Australia, and interim visa arrangements in New Zealand.”
Minister for State, Colm Brophy, in response to Donnelly, noted that the Sinn Féin TD was referring to “people who are seeking a temporary extension of their immigration permission when they have exhausted the maximum time permitted.”
He said that there had been 9,000 such requests in the past two years and that over 4,000 had been “requesting access to employment without an employment permit.” He said that this was intended solely for “genuinely exceptional circumstances” and that “It is not intended for students or graduates who fail to secure an employment permit.”
There could be no such exceptions as that sought by Donnelly and that “It is the responsibility of the student or graduate to allow sufficient time to apply for an employment permit before their existing immigration permission expires.”
So perhaps a further liberalisation of all of this must await the election of a ‘Left’ government including Sinn Féin whose TDs appear to be on the same page as those pushing for even greater latitude for overseas companies based in Ireland to employ persons from overseas.
Another Sinn Féin TD, Louise O’Reilly, recently referred favourably to a petition that came before the Committee on Public Petitions titled “Inability to Progress from Stamp 1G to a General Employment Permit Due to Labour Market Needs Test – Impact on Qualified Irish Teachers”.
O’Reilly noted that “This is a contemporary issue inasmuch as some schools are struggling to recruit and retain teachers,” and that “obviously we do all we can to assist.” Obviously.
Some day I will find that a public representative has raised graduate student visas in an other than uncritical manner.