Living and Working in Ireland
Joe Laredo
Living and working in Ireland is the most comprehensive book available about daily life for newcomers – and essential reading. Not surprisingly, there's a lot more to life in Ireland than Gaelic, Guinness and Gremlins! This book is guaranteed to hasten your introduction to the Irish way of life, irrespective of whether you're planning to find a job, buy a holiday home or retire to the emerald isle. Adjusting to day-to day-life in Ireland just got a whole lot simpler!
Download the first 25 pages FREE now (including the Table of Contents), and see for yourself the wealth of priceless information this book contains (including finding a job in Ireland, Irish employment conditions, Irish permits & visas, Irish immigration and Irish customs)! It's packed with comprehensive, up-to-date, accurate information, facts and figures, and 'insider’ tips, all written and presented in the ‘easy to read and understand’ style for which Survival Books are famous. Our books will save you weeks or months of research, answer hundreds of questions – including many you hadn’t even thought of – and help you avoid problems and save money!
Click 'BUY' (left) to get up to 42% off and free UK delivery at Amazon.co.uk
Other guides for United Kingdom
Extracts from the book…
Arrival & Customs
On arrival in Ireland, your first task will be to negotiate immigration and customs. Like the UK, Ireland isn’t a signatory to the Schengen agreement (named after a Luxembourg village on the Moselle River where it was signed), which came into effect on 26th March 1995 and introduced an open-border policy between many continental European Union (EU) countries. This means that all visitors and immigrants are subject to customs and immigration checks on arrival in Ireland, irrespective of their country of departure – with one exception. The Irish Republic and the UK are part of a ‘Common Travel Area’, which means that foreigners travelling to Ireland via the UK must meet British immigration requirements and will then be free to enter Ireland. If you arrive in Ireland from the UK, there are therefore usually no immigration checks or passport controls at the port of entry into Ireland. Non-EU nationals may require a visa.
IMMIGRATION
In recent years, Ireland has found itself facing an immigration ‘problem’ and has tightened its immigration policies, particularly with regard to foreign workers and asylum seekers. Those arriving from European Economic Area (EEA) countries are free to enter Ireland, although there are certain formalities that must be observed, such as presenting a valid identity document. If you’re a British citizen arriving in Ireland from the UK, you don’t require a passport, although it’s advisable to take some form of identity with you. All other nationals require a valid passport (or national identity card) and in some cases a visa. However, citizens of many non-EU countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the US, don’t require visas.
If you need a visa to enter Ireland and attempt to enter without one, you will be refused entry. If you’re arriving by car, ensure that you have its registration document, an insurance certificate valid for Ireland and your driving licence, and that the car has a nationality sticker on the back.
Non-EU citizens are required to complete immigration registration cards, which are provided on aircraft and ferries, e.g. from France. If you’re a non-EU national coming to Ireland to work, study or live, you may be asked to show documentary evidence. Immigration officials may also ask non-EU visitors to produce a return ticket, proof of accommodation, a health insurance certificate and evidence of sufficient financial resources, e.g. cash, travellers’ cheques and credit cards.
You may wish to get a stamp in your passport as confirmation of your date of entry. The onus is on visitors to show that they’re genuine and that they don’t intend to breach Irish immigration laws. Immigration officials aren’t required to prove that you will breach those laws and can refuse you entry on the grounds of suspicion only.
Working Hours
The Irish generally aren’t workaholics; they value their social life too highly for that. They won’t work weekends if something can wait until Monday, nor work long hours or take an evening job unless they have to. The standard Irish office day is from 9am until 5.30pm with an hour for lunch, taken between 12 and 2pm. Many offices, including government departments, are closed between 12.30 and 2pm. The average Irish working week is 39 hours and the legal maximum 48 hours (note that this is averaged over 4, 6 or 12 months, depending on your circumstances, so your actual working hours could fluctuate considerably).
Working hours are governed by EU directives, which stipulate that you’re entitled to a minimum of 11 hours’ continuous rest in every 24 hours, and at least one rest period in a working day of more than six hours. You’re also entitled to at least 24 hours’ continuous rest every week, and to a 15-minute break for every four-and-a-half hours worked, or 30 minutes for every six hours. Employers are required to compensate staff for Sunday working (i.e. pay them more than their normal daily wage), and night workers are entitled to a free health assessment before starting night work, and at regular intervals thereafter.
Flexi-time
Some Irish employers operate ‘flexi-time’ working hours, the conditions and rules of which vary from employer to employer. A flexi-time system usually requires all employees to be present between certain hours, known as the core or block time. For example, from 9 until 11.30am and from 1.30 to 4pm. Employees may make up their required working hours by starting earlier than the required core time, reducing their lunch break or by working later.
Many business premises are open from around 7am until 6pm or later, and smaller companies may allow employees to work as late as they wish, provided they don’t exceed the maximum permitted daily working hours. The government has recently tried to persuade more large companies to introduce flexi-time in order to ease congestion on the roads and on public transport, but this seems to have had little effect, and flexi-time working is less common than in some other countries.
No reviews yet. Be the first…
Free PDF Sample
PRICE: £14.95
PUBLICATION: January 2009
EDITION: 3rd
PAGES: 408
BINDING: paperback
SIZE: 230mm x 155mm
COLOUR PHOTOS: 150+
