First published: June 12th 2023
Last updated: June 12th 2023

In a tight labour market, your business may need to consider a wider range of job applicants.

If you do find that you need to hire non-nationals to fill a role, you need to ensure your business is compliant with Irish employment permits legislation.

Workers with an automatic right to work in Ireland

First of all, let’s look at who doesn’t need a work permit to work in Ireland.

If you want to make a new hire who’s an Irish or EU citizen, there’s no visa or work permit compliance to worry about. Irish and EU citizens have an automatic right to live and work in Ireland.

Likewise, if your new hire is from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, there is no need to ask them for a work permit as citizens from these countries also have an automatic right to live and work in Ireland.

For job applicants from all other countries, you will likely need ensure that your new hire has a special employment permit to work in Ireland before they start work.

What about UK citizens after Brexit?

Under the Common Travel Area, Irish and British citizens may reside anywhere in the UK and Ireland and enjoy a number of associated rights including access to employment.

UK citizens do not therefore need a work permit to work in Ireland.

Does the employee or the employer apply for the work permit?

Either party may arrange to submit the application to the Employment Permits Section of the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (DETE). The important thing is that the application complies with all the DETE requirements.

There are checklists for each type of work permit application to help applicants complete the process correctly.

What work permit does the employee apply for?

There are currently nine different types of employment permit available for non-EEA nationals.

These are:

• The Critical Skills Employment Permit
• Dependant/Partner/Spouse Employment Permit
• Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit
• General Employment Permit
• Contract for Services Employment Permit
• Reactivation Employment Permit
• Internship Employment Permit
• Sport and Cultural Employment Permit
• Exchange Agreement Employment Permit.

You need to assess which employment permit is relevant before making your application to the DETE.

There are also application fees to be paid. These may be paid by either the employee or the employer.

What’s the Labour Market Needs Test?

Employers applying for a General Employment Permit or a Contract for Services Employment Permit must satisfy a Labour Market Needs Test before completing their application.

In essence, the Labour Market Needs Test requires you to show that you have first tried to fill the vacancy with an Irish or EEA citizen.

Before submitting an application, the applicant must have proof that the employer:

• advertised the vacancy with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection Employment Services/EURES employment network for at least 4 weeks, and in a national newspaper for at least 3 days, and also
• in either a local newspaper or jobs website (separate to Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection/EURES websites) for 3 days.

Changes expected to work permit rules

Irish employment law surrounding work permits looks set to change in the near future.

The Employment Permits Bill 2022 (the Bill) will repeal existing Employment Permits legislation when it comes into force. The new work permit system outlined in the Bill aims to increase the agility and responsiveness of the employment permits system so that it can adapt rapidly to changes in the Irish labour market.

The main Provisions of the Bill are:

• the introduction of a seasonal employment permit
• revision of the labour market needs test to make it more relevant and efficient
• moving of operational criteria to Regulations, and the streamlining of a number of requirements to make the grant process more efficient
• providing for additional conditions for the grant of an employment permit, such as training or accommodation support for migrant workers in some circumstances, or making innovation or upskilling a condition of grant, where this may decrease future reliance on economic migration.

The changes coming in under the Bill are intended to make a recruitment process involving a non-EEA or Swiss national more efficient and streamlined.

Employment permit compliance

The employment permit legislation is one of the most technical areas of Irish employment law.

The WRC inspection team are also tasked with checking employer compliance with employment permits legislation so it’s important to ensure your non-EEA staff have the correct work permit.

For expert help with this or any other employment law issue your business has, speak with one of our employment law consultants today on 1800 719 216