Can a New Company Get an Employment Permit in Ireland? What a Start-Up Needs Before Its First Non-EEA Hire

Yes, a newly registered Irish business can apply for an employment permit. But before the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) looks at the job, it looks at the employer. The business must be registered as an employer with the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue), registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) if it is a company, and trading in Ireland. Then comes the 50:50 rule, which needs at least half your staff to be citizens of the EEA, Switzerland or the UK. (The EEA is the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.) A business with no employees can still apply, but only through one of two narrow routes.

Below is what DETE checks about a new business and what you send to prove it. For the job side (the advert, the salary and the form) see our step-by-step application guide.

What DETE checks about your business

DETE's General Employment Permit page says DETE accepts applications only from employers that are registered with the Revenue Commissioners, registered with the Companies Registration Office if that applies to them, and "currently trading in the State".

So there are three tests:

• Registered with Revenue as an employer. DETE's checklist asks for your Employer Registered Number (ERN), the number Revenue issues to an employer.
• Registered with the CRO, if that applies. DETE's checklist asks for a company's CRO number, and anyone trading under a name other than their own must register that business name there.
• Currently trading in the State.

DETE also checks that a real employer–employee relationship will exist, with the worker "employed, salaried and paid directly by the employer". The Critical Skills Employment Permit page (that permit covers the jobs on DETE's Critical Skills Occupations List, such as ICT professionals and engineers) asks for an employer "based and trading in Ireland" and registered with Revenue.

DETE's own FAQ is blunt about what it expects. It says employers are expected to be "already active employers in their own right, have current employees and are operating substantive businesses", other than in the listed exceptions. A business with no staff is the exception, not the default.

The 50:50 rule when you have few or no staff

Section 22 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 says no permit is granted unless, on the date of the application, 50% or more of your employees are EEA, Swiss or UK citizens. Our 50:50 rule guide explains how the count works. For a new business, the arithmetic is what matters.

• One Irish employee, first permit. One of one is EEA. You pass.
• One Irish employee, second permit. Once the first permit holder has started, one of two staff is EEA. That is exactly 50%, and the rule says "50 per cent or more", so you pass.
• One Irish employee, third permit. One of three. You fail until you hire another EEA, Swiss or UK citizen.
• No employees at all. There is nobody to count. DETE's FAQ says that in this case a permit "can only be granted" under one of the two exceptions below.

Route one: the worker is your only employee

Section 22(3) of the Act switches off the 50:50 rule where, on the day you apply, you have no employees, and the overseas worker will be your only employee when the job starts. DETE adds that the worker must "continue to be the only employee", and that the exemption also applies at renewal if the permit holder is still your sole employee.

Two limits catch new businesses out:

• It covers the General Employment Permit, not the Critical Skills Employment Permit. The Act lists the General Employment Permit and three specialist permits, and the Critical Skills Employment Permit is not among them. If your first hire is a software engineer on a Critical Skills permit, this route is closed.
• It is built for a business that stays at one employee. DETE's own example is a carer for a person with exceptional medical needs in a private home. If you plan to hire more people, the second application is counted under the normal rule.

Route two: Enterprise Ireland or IDA backing

The second route is for start-ups that are client companies of Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland and hold a letter of support from one of them. It applies to Critical Skills, General and Intra-Company Transfer permits (the last moves staff from an overseas branch of a multinational to its Irish branch). DETE's General Employment Permit page sets the terms: "the employer must be registered with Revenue as an employer within last 2 years, and the employer must have a letter of support from either Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland (this applies to client companies of Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland only)."

In practice:

• You must already be a client company of Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland. DETE says the waiver applies to their client companies only.
• The letter confirms the start-up will add to employment in Ireland. DETE's FAQ says it must confirm the start-up "will contribute to the further development of employment in the State", and the Act makes that a condition of this exemption.
• Renewals need the 50:50 rule met. If you have not met it, DETE may give a one-year permit if you can show significant progress towards 50%, again with a letter of support. By the end of that year, the rule has to be met.

DETE's General Employment Permit page says the employer "must be registered with Revenue as an employer within last 2 years". If you plan to use this route, get that condition confirmed with your contact at Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland, and with DETE, before you rely on it.

The Revenue letter a new employer sends

Under Regulation 8(3) of the Employment Permits Regulations 2024, the detailed rules made under the Act, an employer that has not yet filed any payroll returns with Revenue for employees sends a statement in writing from Revenue confirming its registration and stating its Employer Registered Number. DETE's FAQ describes it as "an official letter from Revenue confirming registration as an employer, date of registration and the ERN".

Employers that have filed payroll returns but have never had a permit send a statement of account instead. That is Revenue's record of what the employer has declared and paid, and it must be dated within the 3 months before the application. DETE's FAQ also accepts a receipt for a monthly payroll return filed through the Revenue Online Service (ROS), or evidence of monthly direct debit payments to Revenue in that period.

A few businesses send more:

• Restaurants and fast food outlets add the access number from their tax clearance certificate, the document in which Revenue confirms their tax affairs are in order. They also add utility bills for the premises dated within 2 months of the application, and a letter confirming the premises is registered as a food business. A new restaurant should line these up before it advertises.
• Registered charities provide their registered charity number.

Sole traders, partnerships and companies

You do not need a limited company to be an employer on a permit application. DETE's General Employment Permit checklist asks for the "Type of Company (Sole Trader, Limited etc.)", and DETE's guide to the online system tells a registered sole trader to use their personal tax number (the Tax Registration Number), which is the same as their PPS (personal public service) number.

The registration rules follow the business type:

• Limited company. You need the company's CRO number as well as its ERN.
• Sole trader or partnership. DETE's FAQ says that anyone trading under a name other than their own true name, whether a person, a partnership or a company, must register that business name. If your trading name differs from your registered name, register it before you set up your online account.

Whatever the structure, the same Revenue employer registration, trading test and 50:50 rule apply.

Foreign companies setting up in Ireland

If an overseas group is opening an Irish entity and wants to bring in its own staff, look first at the Intra-Company Transfer permit. For this permit, the 50:50 count is taken on the Irish entity linked to the foreign employer, and the Enterprise Ireland or IDA route above covers it. The sole-employee route does not. Where a foreign business has won a contract to provide services to an Irish entity and the foreign business keeps the workers on its own payroll, DETE's route is the Contract for Services permit.

Before you apply: a checklist

1. Get registered with Revenue as an employer and keep the ERN to hand. If you have not yet filed payroll returns for employees, ask Revenue for the letter confirming your registration date and ERN.
2. Register with the CRO if you are a company, or register your business name if you trade under one.
3. Count your payroll as it will stand on the day you apply. Work out which side of 50% you are on, or which exemption you are relying on.
4. If you have no employees, choose your route. Sole employee (General Employment Permit only) or an Enterprise Ireland or IDA letter of support (client companies only).
5. Set the salary before you advertise. DETE's minimum annual pay depends on the role, so check yours in our minimum salary guide.

Where we fit, and where we don't

We cannot make an ineligible employer eligible. If you are not registered with Revenue as an employer, not trading, or on the wrong side of the 50:50 rule with no exemption, no agency can change that. A refusal also costs money. The fee for a new General Employment Permit is €1,000 for a permit of 6 months up to 24 months, and DETE refunds 90% of it if the application is refused or withdrawn. You cannot recover the fee from the worker, by deduction from pay or otherwise, under section 55 of the Act.

What we can do is check your position before you spend anything. We look at your Revenue registration, how many staff you have and the right permit for the role, then source the worker and manage the DETE application. Message Monette on WhatsApp with when you registered as an employer, how many staff you have, and the role you want to fill. She will tell you which route you are on, or whether you have one at all.

Frequently asked questions