Céad Míle Fáilte: Key Takeaways from Our First Dublin Huddle

Céad Míle Fáilte: Key Takeaways from Our First Dublin Huddle

Expat Academy officially landed in Ireland for our inaugural Dublin Network Huddle, and the day did not disappoint. Hosted by the team at Primark in their fantastic Dublin offices, global mobility leaders came together for an open, collaborative day tackling some of the industry's most pressing strategic challenges.

The sessions balanced high-level technical risk management with real-world operational strategy. Here is a snapshot of the overarching themes from the day:

• Real-Time Digital Compliance & Audit Readiness: We kicked off by addressing the growing visibility of cross-border compliance risks as tax and immigration authorities integrate their digital networks. The room examined how e-visas and linked-up government systems demand genuine operational readiness, highlighting the necessity of proactive mock audits, clean digital trails, and clear internal escalation paths.
• Corporate Perspectives & Platform Evolution: Alongside a valuable corporate update from our hosts at Primark (we’ll be keeping that under wraps!), we previewed what is ahead for the Expat Academy community. The team unveiled upcoming developments across 2026 and 2027, including an overhauled Vault and benchmarking service.
• Interactive Strategic Problem-Solving: After lunch, members got stuck into our GM Blueprints workshop, dissecting complex global mobility scenarios. From handling urgent moves without local sponsorship entities to resolving unmonitored business travel under the 90/180-day Schengen rules and split-payroll complications, tables mapped out strategic interventions across tax, immigration, legal footprint, and stakeholder alignment.
• Balancing Cost Containment with Employee Experience: As corporate budgets face ongoing scrutiny, we explored how organisations can protect the assignee experience without inflating costs. The discussion focused on avoiding cuts that drive costly assignee attrition, leveraging existing corporate wellbeing tools, and evaluating the realistic trade-offs of shorter or virtual assignments.
• Beyond Immigration with RSM: Caoimhe Neary, Tax Partner at RSM Ireland, guided the room through the critical tax controversy issues keeping revenue bodies interested. She outlined how authorities increasingly cross-reference travel records, payroll data, and day-to-day employee duties to spot discrepancies. To manage this, Caoimhe provided a structured framework covering risk registers, clear cross-functional ownership, and audit-ready tracking systems.

After working through quick-fire questions in the Expat Academy Hot Seat, we closed out a brilliant launch event over networking drinks.

A huge thank you to Primark for hosting, RSM for sharing their technical expertise, and all our members for bringing such open discussion to the table. Dublin proved to be a resounding success, and we look forward to returning soon!