Employment permits in Ireland: a 2026 guide for employers

If you want to hire someone from outside the EEA into Ireland, the two main routes are the Critical Skills Employment Permit and the General Employment Permit. Since 1 March 2026 the minimum salary is €40,904 for a Critical Skills role where the hire holds a relevant degree and €36,605 for a General permit, according to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment's Roadmap Review 2025. Both are due for review for January 2027, so this guide is correct as of October 2026: confirm with the Department before you make an offer.

Critical Skills or General: which employment permit fits the role

The Critical Skills Employment Permit is for occupations on the Critical Skills Occupations List and carries the higher salary floor. The General Employment Permit covers a wider set of occupations at a lower floor, and some of those roles are capped by quota. Find the exact occupation on the Department's lists first, then test the salary.

The lists move. Mason Hayes & Curran's 2026 update on the permit regime reports that in May 2026 agronomist joined the Critical Skills list and pharmaceutical technician joined the General list without a quota. Quotas fill too: the Department's employment permit updates said on 26 August 2026 that the quota of 1,000 permits for meat processing operatives was oversubscribed, with no new applications accepted.

Critical Skills Employment Permit salary in 2026, and the other minimums

The Department's Roadmap Review 2025 sets these minimum annual remuneration figures from 1 March 2026:

• Critical Skills with a relevant degree: €40,904 (was €38,000)
• Critical Skills without a degree: €68,911 (was €64,000)
• General Employment Permit: €36,605 (was €34,000)
• Healthcare assistants, home carers, care workers, meat and horticultural operatives: €32,691 (was €30,000)
• Graduates in 2026: €36,848 for Critical Skills, and €34,009 for General permits where the hire graduated at Irish Level 8 or above within the previous 12 months

The Department's announcement of 2 December 2025 gives the hourly equivalent as the threshold divided by 2,028 hours, so €36,605 works out at €18.05 an hour. Published summaries do not all agree on the General figure, so work from the Department's own document.

What changed recently

Three changes matter for budgets, all from the Department's 2 December 2025 announcement and the Roadmap Review 2025:

• The March 2026 rise was 7.66% for General and Critical Skills permits, not the 14.7% and 15.8% originally planned.
• Thresholds are indexed to CSO earnings data, and the January 2027 standard thresholds are still to be determined after the annual review.
• The lower thresholds for care, meat and horticulture roles will be phased out by 2030 instead of 2026, moving to 92.5% of the General threshold in January 2027.

There is one exemption. Because the HSE nurse recruitment salary was €40,267 in September 2025, below the new floor, the review exempts Critical Skills roles with a relevant degree that are paid under the public sector pay deal, including linked community and voluntary bodies. Other employers must meet the threshold.

Who applies, the steps and how long to allow

Applications go to the Department, whose guidance sets out who may lodge the form for each permit type. Either way, give one person in your business ownership of it. FH recommends this order:

• Match the job to an occupation on the current lists and check for a quota.
• Set the salary at or above the threshold in force on the day you apply.
• Where the rules require it, show that you tried to fill the job locally. The Irish Farmers Journal described on 5 October 2022 a dairy role that first had to be advertised in Ireland and Europe.
• Check whether the 50:50 rule on staff from outside the EEA affects you. Mason Hayes & Curran reports the Government has approved a proposal to amend it.
• Apply, and only then fix a start date.

On timing, ask the Department for its current processing position. The 2022 Irish Farmers Journal report put one farm hire from Kenya at up to six months from start to finish. One case is not a benchmark, but it is reason enough to plan in months. The paper also reported on 25 February 2026 that a permit lasting more than six months costs €1,000.

Common mistakes

Permit problems are common: 47% of organisations in CIPD Ireland's HR Practices in Ireland 2026 report, published in May 2026, cited ongoing work permit and visa difficulties. The avoidable errors:

• Quoting a threshold from before 1 March 2026.
• Assuming a job title is eligible without checking the current list and quota.
• Budgeting for one year, when thresholds are reviewed annually.
• Promising a start date before the permit is granted.
• Letting the worker carry recruitment costs. A Migrant Rights Centre Ireland survey of 1,019 permit holders, closed on 25 February 2026, found 35% had paid a recruitment fee, averaging €5,476. MRCI notes that agencies are not allowed to charge such fees. Check that any agency you use holds a WRC licence.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Confirm details with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment or a qualified adviser.

Sources

Checked in October 2026.

• Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Roadmap Review 2025; announcement of 2 December 2025; permit updates of 26 August 2026
• Mason Hayes & Curran, 2026 updates to Ireland's employment permit and immigration regime
• Irish Farmers Journal, 5 October 2022 and 25 February 2026
• CIPD Ireland, HR Practices in Ireland 2026 (May 2026)
• Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, Tied to Exploitation (2026)
• Workplace Relations Commission, employment agency licensing