Work Permits

Persons from the EEA Area comprising member states of the European Union in addition to Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein do not require work permits. Persons from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia do not require work permits. Please note that Swiss Nationals do not require work permits in Ireland.

The recent expansion of the European Union has resulted in a very significant reduction in the number of new work permits being issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment which is the relevant Government Department which deals with applications. The Department has stated that it will only consider new work permit applications for employers where the employer is seeking to employ highly qualified or highly specific personnel and where it is also demonstrated and verified that there is a shortage of such staff in the labour market.

There is a government recruitment agency called FAS who must be contacted with regard to any vacancy and also determine and verify the labour shortages in a specific area of work. At the moment the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment have stated that it would not issue new work permits for anything but the most specialised vacancies. All other categories generally will be refused.

In order to obtain a work permit an employer has to lodge an application with the Department in the form prescribed and which is available on the Department website www.entemp.ie.

The application for a work permit can be for a specific duration up to one year and thereafter has to be renewed. The application fee for a one year work permit is €500.00.

If a work permit is granted, it is granted to the employer to allow the proposed employee travel to Ireland for a specific duration to work in a particular category of employment. The permit attaches to the employer and not the employee.

An employer is entitled to renew an application for a particular person but must do so prior to the expiry of the existing permit. The terms and conditions of employment are governed by legislation which require certain minimum standards with regard to pay and conditions.

In accordance with the European Court of Justice, non EEA workers legally employed in one member state do not require their employer to apply for work permits in respect of the non-nationals for the period of the Contract.

Certain occupational sectors are deemed to be ineligible for work permits e.g. all clerical and administrative positions, general labourers and builders, operator and production staff, categories of transport staff such as bus drivers, coach drivers, taxi drivers, child care workers, persons involved in tourism and catering, certain types of craft workers are also deemed to be ineligible. Lists of these ineligible sectors are available from the Department’s website.

An employer is required by law to abide by the terms of the employment stated on the original permit.

Non-nationals who are illegal in the state will find it difficult if not impossible to obtain a work permit.

The expansion of the European Union has restricted the eligibility of persons outside the EEA area in getting permits and it is now becoming much more difficult although to bring persons from outside the EEA area to work in Ireland