Apr 29, 2015

Ireland - a Country with a Good Sense of Community

Humans are social creatures. The frequency of our contact with others and the quality of our personal relationships are thus crucial determinants of our well-being.

 Helping others can also make you happier. People who volunteer tend to be more satisfied with their lives than those who do not. Time spent volunteering also contributes to a healthy civil society. According to an OECD report - On average, people in Ireland spend 8 minutes per day in volunteering activities, one of the highest figures in the OECD where the average is 4 minutes per day.
Around 64% of people in Ireland reported having helped a stranger in the last month, much more than the OECD average of 49%. These high scores suggest there is a strong sense of community in Ireland.

 A strong social network, or community, can provide emotional support during both good and bad times as well as provide access to jobs, services and other material opportunities. In Ireland, 95% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in a time of need, one of the highest rates in the OECD where the average is 89%.

 There is no difference between men and women. While gender has no impact on social network support, there is a clear relationship between the availability of social support on the one hand, and people’s education level, on the other. In Ireland, around 87% of people who have completed primary education report having someone to count on for help in times of need, compared to 97% for people who attained tertiary education.

Jan 26, 2015

People Moving to Ireland - Some Figures from 2014


Students from outside the EU:
Ireland continues to attract non-EEA students to study at degree level and also for English language training. For the period January to end November 2014 almost 49,500 people  were given permission to be in Ireland  as students. This compares with 45,800 for the same period in 2013.


All non-EEA nationals remaining in Ireland for longer than 90 days are required to register with An Garda Síochána. (Police Force)  The provisional 2014 year end estimates of non-EEA nationals with permission to remain in the State is approximately 95,000, compared to 107,000 at the end of 2013.

The current top 6 registered nationalities which account for over 50% of all persons registered are :

Brazil (12%)
India (11%)
China (9%)
USA (7%),
Nigeria (6%)
 Philippines (5%).

The majority of persons with permission to remain in the State are here for work or study purposes. · Overall in 2014, approximately 172,000 new applications (i.e. visa, residence, protection and citizenship) were received by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS); decisions were issued in almost 179,000 cases -

Jan 16, 2015

Skills Shortages Ireland

These are the 10 job types that employers in Ireland have the most difficulty in getting workers.
The reasons for these jobs being harder to fill are varied.  A shortage of qualified people is a major factor in most jobs - but for jobs such as Labourers - it is probably the poor pay and conditions that make the job unpopular.

If you want to make yourself wanted by Irish employers - these are the jobs that you need to consider getting qualified to do.


1 Skilled Trades (Carpenter, Plumber etc)
2  Engineers
3 Management / Executive (Management/Corporate)

4 Chefs / Cooks
5 Labourers
6 Technicians
7 Drivers

8 Nurses

9 Sales Managers

10 Doctors and Other Non-Nursing Health Professionals

Moving Your Business to Ireland

Ireland is an attractive  destination for global companies and was recently awarded the top spot in Forbes’ Best Countries for Business list.
Ireland continues to attract companies from a variety of sectors including ICT, Life Sciences, Financial Services, Engineering, Digital Media, Computer Gaming and Social Media

Ireland can give companies a strategic European base from which they can achieve their global vision.  With  English as the main language, it is easy to set-up and operate in Ireland.
Due to its young native  population and large numbers of  multilingual talent from across Europe, it is easy to access and service other European countries from Ireland

 Many multinational corporations that originally located in Ireland because of the low rate of corporation tax have continued to expand their activities in Ireland because of the availability of a skilled workforce and the technology infrastructure. 

Ireland also has a  flat corporation tax rate of 12.5% for companies. The Irish tax regime is open and transparent and complies fully with OECD guidelines and EU competition law. Due to such attractive tax, regulatory and legal regime, combined with its open and accommodating business environment, Ireland’s status as a world-class location for international business is well established and prompted Forbes to rank Ireland 1st in the world for best place to do business in Dec 2013.

U.S. firms invested $129.5 billion in Ireland between 2008 and 2012. It represented a greater total than had been invested in the previous 58 years combined. Ireland was the fourth-biggest recipient of U.S. foreign direct investment last year and attracted almost as much U.S. investment as all of developing Asia.

Companies like Google, Intel, Microsoft, Pfizer are among the world’s leading corporations that have set up in Ireland. Some of India’s best known companies also have operations in Ireland including HCL, Wipro, Wockhardt, Reliance Life Sciences, Ranbaxy, Crompton Greaves and TCS.

There are now more than 1,000 overseas companies with a presence in Ireland and they employ 150,000 of the nation’s 1.9 million workers. Dublin has already established itself as a location for multinationals, so it has the necessary infrastructure for other companies to easily move into the country and set up shop.