In short: DETE issued 527 employment permits to Kerry employers in 2025, 37% more than in 2023, while the national total barely moved. Kerry's share of Irish permits rose from 1.2% to 1.7% in two years. CA Recruitment is a WRC-licensed employment agency (Licence No. EA 5444) that recruits from outside the EEA, chiefly the Philippines, and runs the DETE permit from the eligibility check to the worker's visa. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary, and have no office in Kerry.
Checked on 12 October 2026. Several roles Kerry employers hire for sit behind quotas, including hospitality managers, care workers and the new seafood roles, and DETE can close a quota with one notice on its notices page. Contact us and we will check your role today, before you pay for any advertising.
Kerry kept growing while the national total stood still
From DETE's permits by county tables:
| Year | Permits issued, Kerry | Refused, Kerry | Kerry refusal rate | National refusal rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 384 | 26 | 6.3% | 4.8% |
| 2024 | 542 | 29 | 5.1% | 5.9% |
| 2025 | 527 | 61 | 10.4% | 10.0% |
In 2024 Kerry's permits rose 41%, against a national rise of 27%. In 2025 permits issued across Ireland fell by about a fifth, from 39,390 to 31,044. Kerry's fell by 3%, from 542 to 527. Over the two years Kerry went from 384 permits to 527, while the national total ended almost exactly where it started. Kerry's share of all permits issued rose from 1.2% in 2023 to 1.7% in 2025. Kerry employers are bringing in more permit workers, not fewer.
Most Kerry permit employers take one or two people
DETE publishes the names of companies issued permits but not their county. We matched the 2025 names against the Companies Registration Office and kept the ones with a registered address in Co. Kerry: about 110 employers, holding around 330 of the county's 527 permits. A registered address is not always where the work is done, so treat the result as a rough guide. Nearly three in four of those employers (73%) received one or two permits, and the five biggest held under a third (29%) of the matched permits. Kerry's permit hiring is done mostly by employers taking on one or two people at a time.
Refusals doubled in 2025
Kerry's refusals went from 29 in 2024 to 61 in 2025, and the refusal rate from 5.1% to 10.4%. That is in line with the country: the national rate went from 5.9% to 10.0%. Kerry's rate has been above the national rate in two of the last three years, by 1.5 points in 2023 and by less than half a point in 2025. DETE does not publish refusal reasons by county. A refused application still costs 10% of the permit fee, which DETE keeps, plus the Labour Market Needs Test advertising and the weeks already spent, so the checks belong before the advert runs.
Kerry roles and the permit rules that apply
- Hotels and restaurants: chefs from commis level up are eligible where the candidate has the experience DETE requires at that grade, outside fast-food outlets. Waiting, bar and kitchen-assistant roles are not. Manager roles are capped: 100 permits for hotel and accommodation managers, 200 for restaurant and catering managers, 50 for publicans and licensed-premises managers and 50 for catering and bar managers, from 13 May 2026. The single 292-permit pool those roles shared before was filled on 28 April 2026. See our hospitality recruitment agency page.
- Seafood: fish filleter and seafood operative became eligible under newly established quotas in May 2026. Each needs a new Labour Market Needs Test.
- Nursing and care: registered nurses register with NMBI and then come in on the Critical Skills Employment Permit with no Labour Market Needs Test. Healthcare assistants qualify for a General Employment Permit, and care workers and home carers do too within a quota of 1,495 from 13 May 2026. The salary floor for healthcare assistants, care workers and home carers is €16.12 an hour, which is €32,691 a year on a 39-hour week. See our care recruitment agency page.
- Dairy farms: farm worker is ineligible, so a general hand on a beef or sheep farm cannot get a permit. Dairy farm assistant is a named exception at the standard €36,605 minimum. DETE announced a quota of 850 dairy farm assistant permits on 18 December 2025, but the quota schedule was replaced on 13 May 2026 by S.I. 213/2026 without a dairy row, so we confirm the current position with DETE before you advertise. See our agriculture recruitment agency page.
- Trades and engineering: maintenance fitters, electricians, CNC machinists and qualified construction tradespeople. Building crafts such as bricklayers and carpenters must be paid at least the Construction Sectoral Employment Order rate, €23.74 an hour for a craftsperson since 1 August 2026. Production operatives and labourers are ineligible. See our manufacturing and construction pages.
Timing a Kerry hire around the season
A General Employment Permit hire from a visa-required country such as the Philippines takes about 6 months from first call to first shift. That covers the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE processing and the Irish entry visa. A candidate from a country whose citizens need no Irish visa, such as Brazil, usually takes about 4 to 5 months. A chef wanted for the start of the summer season needs the process started around the turn of the year.
Applications go to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment in the same way from every county. We run the hire 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, looking further afield when a role is better filled elsewhere. Our fee is agreed in writing before we start and is due only when the worker starts. DETE's fee for a General Employment Permit of more than six months and up to 24 months is €1,000, and each placement carries a 90-day replacement guarantee on our fee. Our cost guide covers the full bill.
Hiring nearby? See our Cork and Limerick pages.
Hiring in Kerry? Start before the season.
WhatsApp Monette on 089 416 6124 for a free eligibility check. She will confirm whether your Kerry role qualifies, which permit and salary floor apply, whether its quota is open, and the latest date to start for your season.
Frequently asked questions
Up, against the national trend. DETE issued 527 permits to Kerry employers in 2025, against 384 in 2023, a rise of 37%. The national total was virtually unchanged over the same two years, at 30,981 in 2023 and 31,044 in 2025. In 2025 alone Kerry's total fell by 3% while the national total fell by 21%.
Yes. Chefs from commis level 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, restaurant, licensed-premises 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 fresh Labour Market Needs Test.
Yes, within a quota. Fish filleter and seafood operative were made eligible for General Employment Permits under newly established quotas in May 2026, following DETE's 2025 review of the occupations lists. DETE has said a new Labour Market Needs Test must be run for both roles. Because the quotas are small, we check they are still open before you advertise.
Allow about 6 months from first call to first shift for a General Employment Permit hire from a visa-required country such as the Philippines. That covers the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE processing and the Irish entry visa. Candidates from countries whose citizens need no Irish visa, such as Brazil, usually take about 4 to 5 months. For a worker in place by early summer, the process needs to start around the turn of the year.
No. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary, and have no office in Tralee, Killarney or elsewhere in Kerry. We work by phone, WhatsApp, email and video call. DETE decides employment permits centrally, so nothing in the process depends on where the agency is based. Our WRC Employment Agency Licence number is EA 5444.