Choosing an Overseas Recruitment Agency in Ireland (Employer Guide)

What "Overseas" Actually Means in This Context

When Irish employers search for a recruitment agency, they usually mean one of two things: an agency that finds Irish or EU candidates, or an agency that brings workers from outside the EEA entirely. These are very different services, and mixing them up is where problems start.

CA Recruitment is an overseas recruitment agency in the second sense. We source workers from the Philippines — a country with a large pool of experienced, English-speaking workers in care, construction, agriculture, hospitality, and other sectors — and we manage the full DETE employment permit process to bring them to Ireland legally. The permit, the visa, the compliance — that's the service. We're not a job board and we're not a staffing agency placing people already living in Ireland.

If you're looking to fill a role that Irish and EU candidates haven't filled after genuine advertising, this is what that option looks like.

How CA Recruitment Works

The process is end to end. We don't source candidates and hand you a pile of CVs to process yourself — the permit and immigration side is where the real work is, and that's what we manage.

Here's what the engagement actually looks like:

1. Initial call and eligibility check. We start by confirming your role is DETE permit-eligible and that your business meets the 50:50 workforce rule (at least 50% of your employees must be EEA nationals before a permit can be issued). Both checks are free. There's no point going further if either fails.

2. Sourcing from the Philippines. Once eligibility is confirmed, we source shortlisted workers through our network in the Philippines. You interview and approve. We don't move to the permit stage until you have a confirmed candidate.

3. Labour Market Needs Test (where required). Most General Employment Permits require a 28-day Labour Market Needs Test — mandatory advertising on Jobs Ireland, EURES, and one additional platform to demonstrate the role couldn't be filled locally. We run this on your behalf.

4. DETE permit application. Once the LMNT is complete, we prepare and submit the employment permit application to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. We manage the documentation, the salary threshold check, and the submission. The permit is granted in your name — you are the employer of record.

5. Visa and travel coordination. After the permit issues, the worker applies for their employment visa. We coordinate the visa process and the travel arrangements. The worker arrives ready to start.

The full process takes around six months. That's the DETE timeline — it's determined by the permit queue and the visa process, not by how efficient the agency is. We move as fast as the system allows. For the full process breakdown, see our Work Permit Guide for Irish Employers.

Who We Work With

Our clients are Irish employers who have a genuine staffing gap they've been unable to fill through the local market. They've advertised. They've interviewed. The role has stayed open. Going overseas is not a first choice for most of them — it's a solution after other routes have been exhausted.

Employers we've placed workers with include a beef and sheep farm in Tipperary (PJ Ryan) and a construction employer (Joe Colville). Both came to us after failing to fill long-standing vacancies. In both cases, the worker arrived qualified, settled in quickly, and stayed.

Most of our clients are in sectors where workforce gaps are persistent: care homes, farms, hotels, construction sites, food production. Not all — but that's the bulk of it. The common thread isn't the sector; it's that the role is permit-eligible and the employer has genuinely tried other routes first.

Sectors and Roles We Fill

We place workers into any DETE permit-eligible role. In practice, that means:

• Agriculture — general farm workers, dairy operatives, pig farm workers, poultry operatives
• Construction — craft trades including bricklayers, carpenters and joiners, plasterers, steel erectors, and welders (construction craft trades carry Sectoral Employment Order pay rates — we verify these before any application; note that general labourers and operatives are on the DETE Ineligible Occupations List and cannot be sponsored)
• Healthcare and social care — healthcare assistants, care workers, support workers in residential care settings
• Hospitality — kitchen porters, housekeeping, food service operatives
• Food production — meat processing operatives, food factory workers
• Other permit-eligible roles — if your role sits on the DETE Eligible Occupations List and you meet the workforce ratio, we can work with you regardless of sector

For healthcare specifically, there are additional registration requirements (CORU, NMBI) that affect timing and eligibility. Our guide on hiring healthcare staff from overseas covers those in detail.

The Permit Process End to End

Most Irish employers come to us knowing they need someone from overseas — but not knowing how the permit system actually works. Here's the short version.

DETE issues two main permit types for non-EEA workers:

General Employment Permit (GEP) — the most common route. Requires the Labour Market Needs Test (28 days of mandatory advertising) and that at least 50% of your workforce are EEA nationals. Minimum annual salary: €36,605 (most roles — sector-specific floors may be higher). First permit lasts up to two years, renewable.

Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP) — for roles on the DETE Critical Skills Occupations List (nurses, certain engineers, IT roles, and others paying €40,904+) or any role paying over €68,911. No Labour Market Needs Test required. The 50:50 workforce rule still applies.

One thing most employers don't realise: the 50:50 rule applies to both permit types. If fewer than half your employees are EEA nationals, neither permit will issue — regardless of how qualified your candidate is. We check this at the first call so no one wastes four weeks of LMNT time to discover it at application stage.

The total process from starting to arrival is around six months. For the full breakdown — including processing times, fee structure, and the salary rules by sector — see our Work Permit Guide.

How We Differ from Generalist Recruitment Agencies

Most recruitment agencies in Ireland work with candidates who are already here — Irish nationals, EU citizens, people with existing permission to work. That's a legitimate service, but it's a different one.

The key differences with an overseas specialist:

Permit management is the core service, not an add-on. Generalist agencies find people. We find people and then run a six-month legal process to get them here legally. If the agency you're looking at doesn't have someone who knows the DETE process inside out — the LMNT platforms, the salary thresholds by sector, the 50:50 rule, the visa steps — you'll be carrying that complexity yourself.

The source pool is different. We recruit from the Philippines specifically. That's a deliberate focus: Filipino workers have strong English, recognised professional qualifications in care and construction, and a well-established legal route to Ireland under the DETE permit system. We're not sourcing from wherever is cheapest or fastest — we're sourcing from where the right workers for Irish employers actually are.

We carry the permit risk. If the application stalls, if documentation needs to be amended, if the DETE has a query — that lands on us, not on you. You hired us precisely so you don't have to become an immigration caseworker. We treat it that way.

No large upfront fee before work starts. Some agencies charge heavily before they've done anything. Our model is structured so the fee reflects the placement completing, not just starting.

For a side-by-side comparison of what to look for when evaluating agencies, see our guide on how Irish employers choose between overseas recruitment agencies.

Licensing and Registration

CA Recruitment operates under the Employment Agency Act 1971. Under that Act, agencies that match workers to employers in Ireland must hold a valid Employment Agency Licence issued by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. This is a legal requirement for agencies operating in the Irish market.

For overseas placements from the Philippines specifically, we also hold DMW (Department of Migrant Workers) accreditation — the Philippine government licensing that permits agencies to recruit Filipino nationals for legal overseas employment. Without DMW accreditation, placing Filipino workers internationally is not legal. It's the first thing to verify when evaluating any agency offering Filipino recruitment.

If you're asked to pay significant fees before you've confirmed an agency's registration status, that's a risk worth taking seriously.

What It Costs

We don't publish a fixed fee schedule because roles and sectors vary and a meaningful number depends on understanding the specific hire. What we can be clear about is how the cost is structured:

• Our agency fee is charged on placement. It covers sourcing, permit management, visa coordination, and everything up to the worker arriving. It does not include the DETE permit fee, the Irish visa fee, or the worker's travel — those are third-party costs that exist regardless of which agency you use.
• The DETE permit fee is €1,000 for most General Employment Permits (€500 for applications under six months). This is paid directly to DETE. It is not part of CA Recruitment's fee.
• Nothing large is payable before work starts. We're not structured to take the money and start the clock — the model ties our work to the placement completing.

For a fuller picture of the real total cost to hire an overseas worker — including permit fees, visa costs, and what the guarantee does and doesn't cover — our guide on managed overseas recruitment goes through the numbers.

Frequently Asked Questions