You can hire a software developer, IT architect or web developer from outside the EEA (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). Those roles are on Ireland's Critical Skills Occupations List, so they qualify for a Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP). Pay at least €40,904, offer a job of at least two years, and you skip the Labour Market Needs Test, the 28-day advertising stage a General Employment Permit usually needs.
The catch is the job itself. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE), which runs the permits, sorts jobs into numbered occupation codes rather than going by job title, and IT support roles are not on its Critical Skills list. Below is how to check where your role sits.
Correct as of 28 October 2026. We took the salary thresholds and occupation codes below from DETE's pages on that date. Get in touch and we will check the current position for your role before you spend anything on the process.
Four checks before you recruit overseas
If the person you want can already work in Ireland, a domestic IT agency is the faster answer. If they are overseas, answer four questions before anyone screens a CV.
- Which code fits the role? DETE's Critical Skills list gives each occupation a four-digit number, such as 2136 for programmers and software development professionals.
- Is that code on the Critical Skills list, the Ineligible list (occupations DETE will not grant a permit for), or neither?
- Does the salary clear the minimum for that route?
- Are at least half your employees EEA nationals? That is DETE's 50% rule.
IT roles on the Critical Skills list
We read these off DETE's Critical Skills Occupations List on 28 October 2026 (our Critical Skills list employer check explains how the whole list works). All the IT professional codes, the ones starting 213, are listed in full. None of them comes with extra conditions about the type of work.
| Code | Occupation on the list |
|---|---|
| 1136 | Information technology and telecommunications directors |
| 2133 | IT specialist managers |
| 2134 | IT project and programme managers |
| 2135 | IT business analysts, architects and systems designers |
| 2136 | Programmers and software development professionals |
| 2137 | Web design and development professionals |
| 2139 | All other ICT professionals not elsewhere classified |
Some common job titles, such as DevOps engineer, cloud engineer, data engineer and QA automation engineer, do not appear on the list by name, because the Critical Skills list identifies occupations by code rather than title. DETE's application asks for a full description of the proposed employment, so the code has to match what the person will actually do. A job description that reads as software development points to 2136.
IT support technicians: a different route
IT technician roles, such as IT operations and user support technicians, are not on the Critical Skills list. They are not on the Ineligible Occupations List either, and the General Employment Permit is open to any occupation that list does not exclude. So you can still hire a support technician from overseas, but on a different permit:
- Permit: the General Employment Permit (GEP), not the CSEP.
- Advertising first: a Labour Market Needs Test. The job is advertised on the Department of Social Protection's jobs service and on one other online platform, each for 28 days.
- Salary floor: generally €36,605 a year.
- Length: an initial 2 years, renewable for up to 3 more.
The salary floor for IT roles
For an IT occupation on the Critical Skills list, DETE's minimum annual pay is €40,904, and a relevant degree or higher is required. If the candidate received their qualification in the 12 months before the application, the minimum salary is €36,848 instead. That lower figure helps when you are hiring a recent computer science graduate.
Two things count towards the threshold: basic salary, and health insurance you pay for the employee with a registered Irish health insurer. The application states salary excluding bonuses. If your package only reaches €40,904 with a bonus on top, raise the basic salary.
An IT role that is not on the Critical Skills list needs a higher salary to use this permit: over €68,911. At that level, any occupation qualifies unless it is on the Ineligible list or is contrary to the public interest.
Our Critical Skills Employment Permit guide covers how the employee can bring their family to Ireland, and the 9-month rule on changing employer. It also covers what happens when the permit ends: the holder can apply to the Department of Justice for Stamp 4, the immigration permission to live and work in Ireland without another employment permit.
The 50% rule still applies
Skipping the advertising stage does not skip the workforce rule. DETE will not grant a permit unless 50% or more of your employees are EEA nationals when you apply. The exception is a start-up under 2 years old that is a client of Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland, the state's enterprise development agencies. Our 50:50 rule guide explains how the count works.
How long it takes
DETE asks for every permit application to be in at least 12 weeks before the proposed start date. DETE processes applications in date order and publishes the date it has reached for each permit type.
After the permit is granted, a candidate from a country whose citizens need a visa for Ireland also applies for an Irish entry visa. For end-to-end planning figures on each route, see our GEP vs CSEP comparison.
Your duties as the employer
The job offer has to run for at least two years. For a shorter job, you would apply for a GEP instead.
The DETE fee for a Critical Skills Employment Permit is €1,000. If the application is refused, 90% is refunded to the applicant, and you can ask for a review within 28 days. If you, the employer, make the application, section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 says you cannot deduct any charge, fee or expense related to the application from the employee's pay, or recover it from them.
If the employee stops working for you while the permit is valid, the permit must be returned to DETE within 4 weeks. An employer or permit holder who does not do this commits an offence.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Programmers and software development professionals (code 2136) are on the Critical Skills Occupations List, so a developer from outside the EEA can be hired on a Critical Skills Employment Permit if the salary is at least €40,904, a relevant degree is held and the job offer runs for at least two years. There is no Labour Market Needs Test on this permit.
The list covers IT specialist managers (2133), IT project and programme managers (2134), IT business analysts, architects and systems designers (2135), programmers and software development professionals (2136), web design and development professionals (2137) and all other ICT professionals not elsewhere classified (2139). Information technology and telecommunications directors (1136) are listed too.
No. DETE says a Labour Market Needs Test is not required for a Critical Skills Employment Permit, because the skills are in short supply. You skip the 28 days on the Department of Social Protection's jobs service and the 28 days on a second online platform that the General Employment Permit route needs.
Usually on the General Employment Permit rather than the Critical Skills permit. IT technician roles are not on the Critical Skills list, but they are not on the Ineligible Occupations List either. That route needs a Labour Market Needs Test first and a salary of generally at least €36,605. Above €68,911, any role can use the Critical Skills permit unless it is on the Ineligible list or contrary to the public interest.
€40,904 a year for an occupation on the Critical Skills list, with a relevant degree or higher. If the candidate received their qualification in the 12 months before the application, the floor is €36,848. Basic salary and health insurance payments to a registered Irish insurer count. Bonuses do not.