In short: Galway was the only county in Ireland where the number of employment permits issued fell in both 2024 and 2025. DETE issued 1,104 permits to Galway employers in 2025, a fifth fewer than the 1,387 of 2023, while the national total finished 2025 almost exactly where it began 2023. Refusals are not the explanation: Galway's refusal rate has stayed close to the national rate. Fewer applications are reaching a decision. CA Recruitment is a WRC-licensed employment agency (Licence No. EA 5444) that recruits outside the EEA, mainly in the Philippines, and manages the DETE permit for the employer. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary, and have no office in Galway.
Checked on 12 October 2026. DETE moves salary floors, permit fees and occupation quotas during the year, sometimes with a single notice on its website. Contact us before you advertise and we will confirm the position for your role on the day.
Galway's permit numbers, 2023 to 2025
These figures come from DETE's permits by county tables:
| Year | Permits issued, Galway | Refused, Galway | Galway refusal rate | National refusal rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,387 | 85 | 5.8% | 4.8% |
| 2024 | 1,269 | 85 | 6.3% | 5.9% |
| 2025 | 1,104 | 121 | 9.9% | 10.0% |
In 2023 Galway was fifth among the counties for permits issued. By 2025 it was sixth, behind Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Meath and Kildare. Every other county had at least one year of growth between 2023 and 2025; Galway fell twice, including in 2024, when the national total rose by more than a quarter.
Fewer applications, not more refusals
Add the issued and refused columns together and you have the applications DETE decided: 1,472 from Galway in 2023, 1,354 in 2024 and 1,225 in 2025, a fall of 17%. The refusal rate did climb, from 5.8% to 9.9%, but the national rate climbed further, from 4.8% to 10.0%, and in 2025 Galway sat just under it. So the drop is in applications reaching a decision, not in how many of them succeed. The tables do not say why fewer Galway employers applied, and we would not guess.
For an employer, the useful reading is the other way round. A Galway application has done about as well with DETE as one from anywhere else. The odds turn on the role, the salary and the paperwork, not on the county.
Who holds Galway's permits
DETE also publishes the name of every company it issued a permit to, without a county. We matched those names against the Companies Registration Office and kept the ones with a registered office in Co. Galway: about 270 employers, holding about 770 of the county's 1,104 permits in 2025. A registered office is not always where the work happens, and not every company matches, so these are proportions, not a headcount.
- Small employers dominate. Nearly eight in ten of the matched employers received one or two permits, and about six in ten received exactly one. The five largest held about a fifth of the matched total.
- Hospitality and transport stand out. We sorted every company on DETE's 2025 list by the words in its name, which is rough and leaves many unclassified. On that basis, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality businesses held about 13% of the matched Galway permits, against about 5% across the whole list. Transport companies, coach operators among them, held about 10%, against about 3%. Health and care held about 15%, below the 23% it holds across the list.
Which Galway roles a permit can fill
- Hospitality: chefs from commis chef up, for hotels and restaurants in the city, Salthill and Connemara, where the candidate has the experience DETE expects at that grade. Waiting staff, bar staff and kitchen assistants are ineligible. Hotel, restaurant, licensed-premises and catering and bar managers are eligible only within quotas of 100, 200, 50 and 50 permits from 13 May 2026. See our hospitality recruitment agency page.
- Haulage: HGV drivers with a category CE or C1E licence, or an equivalent the Road Safety Authority recognises. Van drivers, fork-lift drivers and elementary warehouse operatives are ineligible. See our logistics recruitment agency page.
- Nursing and care: registered nurses register with NMBI and then come in on a Critical Skills Employment Permit. Healthcare assistants qualify for a General Employment Permit, and so do care workers and home carers within a quota of 1,495 permits from 13 May 2026. The minimum for all three care roles is €16.12 an hour, which is €32,691 a year on a 39-hour week. See our nursing recruitment agency and care recruitment agency pages.
- Medical device and engineering plants: around Parkmore, Ballybrit and the county's industrial estates, the eligible roles are the skilled ones: maintenance fitters, electricians, CNC machinists, welders, and technician, engineering and quality roles. General production and packing operatives are on the Ineligible List of Occupations. See our manufacturing recruitment agency page.
- Construction: qualified tradespeople, paid at least the DETE threshold and, for the building crafts the Construction Sector Sectoral Employment Order covers, such as bricklayers and carpenters, at least the SEO rate, which has been €23.74 an hour for a craftsperson since 1 August 2026. Labourers and general site operatives are not eligible. See our construction recruitment agency page.
- Farming and horticulture: farm worker is an ineligible occupation, which rules out a general hand on a beef or sheep holding in east Galway. Dairy farm assistant and pig farm assistant are named exceptions at the standard €36,605 floor, and horticulture workers qualify at €32,691 within a quota of 971 from 13 May 2026. See our agriculture recruitment agency page.
Our 2026 guide to employment permit quotas lists every capped occupation.
How a Galway hire works with us
Permits are decided nationally by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, so we work with Galway employers by phone, WhatsApp, email and video. Monette, who owns CA Recruitment, is a Filipino national living in Ireland and recruits through her own contacts in the Philippines, and in other countries when a role is better filled there. We confirm the occupation is eligible, set the salary on the right band, run the Labour Market Needs Test, prepare the application and arrange the visa and travel. You review the application and sign the employer declaration.
Our fee is agreed in writing up front and falls due only once the worker starts. The DETE fee for a General Employment Permit of more than six months and up to 24 months is €1,000 and is separate. Every placement carries a 90-day replacement guarantee on our fee. For a candidate from a visa-required country such as the Philippines, allow about 6 months from first call to first shift; where no Irish visa is needed, as for Brazil, about 4 to 5 months. The Work Permit Guide for Irish Employers sets out each step, and our cost guide covers the full bill.
Hiring elsewhere in the west? See our Mayo and Limerick pages, or our Athlone and Westmeath page for the Midlands.
Hiring in Galway? Find out if the role qualifies.
WhatsApp Monette on 089 416 6124 for a free eligibility check. She will tell you whether your Galway vacancy can be filled on a permit, which permit and salary floor apply, whether a quota is open, and a realistic start date.
Frequently asked questions
DETE issued 1,387 permits to Galway employers in 2023, 1,269 in 2024 and 1,104 in 2025. Galway was the only county where the number fell in both years. Refusals are not the main reason: Galway's refusal rate was 9.9% in 2025, just under the national 10.0%. Fewer applications reached a decision, down from 1,472 in 2023 to 1,225 in 2025. DETE's tables do not say why.
Yes. Chefs from commis chef up are eligible for a General Employment Permit where the candidate has the experience DETE expects at that grade. Waiting staff, bar staff and kitchen assistants are on the Ineligible List of Occupations. Hotel and accommodation managers, restaurant managers, licensed-premises managers and catering and bar managers are eligible only within quotas of 100, 200, 50 and 50 permits from 13 May 2026, and each needs a Labour Market Needs Test.
Yes, for drivers holding a category CE or C1E licence, or an equivalent the Road Safety Authority recognises. Van drivers, fork-lift drivers and elementary warehouse and storage operatives are ineligible. The role goes on a General Employment Permit, so a 28-day Labour Market Needs Test comes first.
Yes. Healthcare assistants qualify for a General Employment Permit, and care workers and home carers qualify within a quota of 1,495 permits from 13 May 2026. The minimum for all three roles is €16.12 an hour, which is €32,691 a year on a 39-hour week. Registered nurses come in on a Critical Skills Employment Permit with no Labour Market Needs Test, and must register with NMBI before working as nurses.
No. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary, and have no office in Galway city or county. We work by phone, WhatsApp, email and video call. DETE decides employment permits centrally, so no step in the process depends on where the agency is based. Our WRC Employment Agency Licence number is EA 5444.