What Do You Have to Pay an Overseas Worker in Ireland? (2026 Permit Salary Thresholds)

It is the first question almost every employer asks us: what do I actually have to pay? There is no single number. The minimum an employment permit requires depends on the role, and the gap between the bands is wide — the figure for a care assistant is a long way off the figure for a carpenter.

Here are the 2026 thresholds set by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) and the relevant Sectoral Employment Orders, by role — and, just as importantly, why that number is not the overseas premium it can look like at first glance.

The short answer, by role

Every figure below is basic pay for a standard 39-hour week, and every role must also clear the National Minimum Wage of €14.15 an hour for all hours worked. Now the detail.

Standard roles — €36,605 a year

Most permit-eligible roles — chefs, HGV drivers, welders, machine operators and many others — sit on the standard General Employment Permit floor of €36,605 a year, which rose from €34,000 in March 2026. That floor is based on a 39-hour week. If the week is shorter, the hourly rate has to rise so the annual minimum is still met, and each hour worked above 39 must be paid at no less than the prescribed hourly rate of €18.05.

Recent Irish graduates — €34,009 a year

There is a middle band employers routinely miss. If the person you are hiring holds a relevant Level 8 or higher degree on the Irish Register of Qualifications, awarded by an Irish third-level college within the previous 12 months, the General Employment Permit floor for that role drops to €34,009 a year — €16.77 an hour on a 39-hour week. Level 7 and below does not qualify: that role sits on the full €36,605.

It is worth checking before you assume the €36,605 figure applies. If you have a non-EU graduate already in Ireland on a Stamp 1G and you want to keep them, this is often the band you are actually in. The detail of that route is in our guide to hiring non-EU graduates on Stamp 1G.

Shortage roles — €16.12 an hour

A reduced hourly minimum of €16.12 an hour applies to a set of designated shortage occupations: healthcare assistants, home carers and home support workers, horticulture workers and meat processor operatives. That works out at €32,691 a year on a 39-hour week, or €33,529.60 on a 40-hour week.

One thing to watch, and it catches out care employers in particular: the €16.12 has to be basic pay. Premium rates for nights and weekends are real money to the worker, but they do not count towards the threshold — see what counts as salary below.

Construction trades — Sectoral Employment Order rates

Construction is the band that surprises employers most, because it is higher than the general permit floor, not lower. Trades are governed by Sectoral Employment Orders (SEOs), which set legally binding minimum hourly rates across the sector. The Construction Sector SEO craftsperson rate has been €23.74 an hour — about €48,150 a year on a 39-hour week — since 1 August 2026, up from €23.00 before that date. It covers trades such as carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers and glaziers.

Other construction workers, including steel fixers and experienced scaffolders, are Category A workers at €23.03 an hour since 1 August 2026, up from €22.32. Electricians and plumbers are the exception, and it catches people out. The Construction Sector SEO is the only sectoral order still in force: the electrical contracting order was quashed by the courts and never replaced, and the mechanical engineering order covering plumbers and pipefitters was struck down by the High Court in October 2023. For those two trades the statutory floor is the National Minimum Wage, with the €36,605 permit threshold applying on top for a permit hire — though market rates run well above both, so pricing an offer at the permit minimum will not fill the role. Where the Construction SEO does apply, the permit floor is effectively the SEO rate: there is no cheaper way to do it legally, and you would pay an Irish tradesperson the same.

Critical Skills roles — €40,904 a year

Higher-skilled occupations on the Critical Skills Occupations List carry a minimum of €40,904 a year, or €20.17 an hour, and they follow a faster route that does not require a Labour Market Needs Test. If your role qualifies here, the higher salary buys you a quicker, simpler process.

Like every other permit threshold, that band is two figures and the role has to clear both. The annual figure assumes a 39-hour week; on a longer contract the hourly rate is what binds. The same applies to the two other Critical Skills bands — €36,848 a year (€18.17 an hour) for an on-list role where the worker holds a Level 8 qualification obtained in the previous 12 months, and €68,911 a year (€33.98 an hour) for eligible occupations that are not on the list.

What counts as salary — and what doesn't

This is where most refusals we see start. Employers add up what the job is genuinely worth to the worker, clear the threshold comfortably in their own mind, and then find DETE measuring something narrower.

DETE's rule is blunt: salary means basic pay only. The Department's own permit checklist puts it in one line — "Salary refers solely to basic pay. Salary shall not include any bonuses, shift allowances, overtime etc." The one addition DETE does recognise is health insurance paid on the worker's behalf to an insurer registered with the Health Insurance Authority.

So the following do not get you over the line, however real they are:

• Bonuses, including guaranteed or contractual ones
• Shift allowances, unsocial-hours premiums and weekend rates
• Overtime, even where it is reliable every week
• Tips, service charge and commission
• The value of accommodation, meals or transport you provide

The practical consequence: the number on the contract as basic pay is the number that has to clear the threshold on its own. A chef on €33,000 basic plus €5,000 of predictable overtime is a €33,000 chef as far as the permit is concerned, and that application fails. Fixing it usually means restructuring the contract rather than paying more in total — which is a conversation worth having before you apply, not after a refusal.

How the number of hours changes it

Permit salary thresholds are built around a standard full-time week of 39 hours — 2,028 hours a year. A permit role does not have to be full-time, but it cannot drop below 20 hours a week — that floor is set in Regulation 39 of the Employment Permits Regulations 2024, and the regulations put no ceiling above it. Ireland's 48-hour maximum average week is a separate rule, under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, and it applies to employees generally, not just permit holders. Below 39 hours, the hourly rate has to rise so the worker still earns the full annual minimum for the role; above 39, each extra hour is paid at the prescribed rate. A 40-hour week on the standard band, for instance, has to total €37,544 rather than €36,605, because the extra hour is priced at the same €18.05. In practice almost every permit role we place is full-time at 39 hours, because that is what the work needs and what makes the numbers stack up cleanly.

These figures move every year now

One structural change worth budgeting for. Under the Employment Permits Act 2024, the minimum salary thresholds are no longer fixed for years at a time — they rise on a published roadmap, and the first of those increases landed on 1 March 2026, taking the General Employment Permit floor to €36,605. DETE has signalled further phased increases through 2030.

For a permit you are applying for now, that mostly matters at renewal: the floor your role sits on today is not necessarily the floor it sits on in two years. We cover what the Act changed, and the rest of its practical consequences for employers, in our guide to the Employment Permits Act 2024.

Why this isn't an "overseas premium"

Seeing a €33,000 or €46,000 figure in writing can feel like a lot in one go. Here is what it is, and what it isn't.

It is not a surcharge for hiring from abroad. The threshold is set at or close to the going market rate for the role — you would pay an Irish or EU worker the same to do the same job. The permit process simply puts in writing that the rate is being met. You are not paying more; you are paying the market rate to fill a seat you have not been able to fill locally.

And that empty seat has its own cost. An unfilled role means lost output, overtime piled onto the team you already have, agency temps at a premium, and the slow burn of staff leaving because they are stretched. Set against that, a committed, vetted, English-speaking worker who is here to stay is usually the cheaper option, not the dearer one.

The salary is also only part of the picture, and the part you would pay regardless of how you hire. CA Recruitment's recruitment fee is agreed upfront and is separate from the government permit cost, and we manage the entire DETE permit process for you. The full cost breakdown — permit fee, what you don't pay, and where the agency fee sits — is set out in our companion guide on what it costs to hire an overseas worker in Ireland.

Confirm the exact figure for your role — free

Salary thresholds and Sectoral Employment Order rates are reviewed periodically, and the band that applies to your specific role and contract is worth getting right before you advertise or apply — the wrong figure is a common reason permits are delayed or refused. Tell us the role and the hours, and we will confirm the exact minimum, check eligibility, and give you a realistic timeline. There is no charge and no obligation.

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