In short: CA Recruitment is a WRC-licensed employment agency (Licence No. EA 5444) filling hard-to-fill roles for employers in Kilkenny city, Callan, Castlecomer, Thomastown and the rest of the county. Our candidates come from outside the EEA, chiefly the Philippines, and we run the DETE employment permit for you from the first eligibility check to the worker's visa. Each placement is backed by a 90-day replacement guarantee. Our base is Ballyporeen in Co. Tipperary. There is no CA Recruitment office in Kilkenny, and none is needed: the permit system is run nationally, and our clients work with us remotely.
Checked on 12 October 2026. DETE revises salary floors, fees and quotas through the year, and one notice on its website is enough to stop applications for a capped role. Contact us and we will tell you where your role stands this week, before you spend anything.
Recruitment agency Kilkenny: what happens when the local pool runs out
This page is for employers in Kilkenny who are hiring, not for people looking for work. If a vacancy has been open for months, the advert is rarely the problem. The candidates you need are not in the county, and a generalist agency is searching the same Irish and EEA market your own ad already reached.
The census shows why. Census 2022 counted 104,160 people in Kilkenny, 5% more than in 2016, but the number at work grew more than twice as fast, rising 12% to 46,196. The number of people unemployed fell by 34% over the same six years, and the county's unemployment rate dropped from 13% to 8%. Meanwhile the population aged 65 and over grew by 21% to 17,056, and the average age rose from 37.9 to 39.7. Health and social work already employs more Kilkenny workers than any other sector, at over 6,300, and an ageing county will need more nurses and carers, not fewer.
Factories and international firms are chasing the same people. IDA Ireland's 15 client companies in Kilkenny employed 2,172 people in 2025, almost double the 1,087 employed by 11 client companies in 2020, according to a written Dáil answer from the Minister for Enterprise on 20 January 2026. Manufacturing accounted for just over 4,700 workers in the 2022 census. A Kilkenny food or engineering business looking for a maintenance electrician is up against all of them for a handful of applicants.
An Irish employment permit lets you hire from far outside that market, legally. It comes with strict conditions. The occupation must not appear on DETE's Ineligible List of Occupations. Pay has to reach the minimum set for that role. Most General Employment Permit jobs need a 28-day Labour Market Needs Test before you apply. The 50:50 rule means EEA, UK or Swiss nationals must make up at least half your headcount, and only a few employers, such as start-ups backed by Enterprise Ireland or IDA, are exempt. And DETE expects an application that is complete and accurate the day it arrives. Those conditions are where most agencies step back, and where our work begins.
Where CA Recruitment differs from the agencies already working in Kilkenny
If your vacancy can be filled from candidates already in Ireland, one of the established Kilkenny agencies may serve you well, and we will tell you so. We are built for the role nobody local has applied for:
- Candidates from outside the EEA. Monette, CA Recruitment's owner, is a Filipino national living in Ireland. She recruits through her own contacts in the Philippines, and looks to other countries when a role is better filled there. You see people chosen for your job, not CVs pulled from a database.
- The permit, start to finish. We check the occupation against DETE's lists, set pay at the correct level, run the Labour Market Needs Test, prepare and submit the application, and organise the visa and travel. Your part is reviewing the application and signing the employer declaration.
- 90 days of cover on our fee. If a worker placed by CA Recruitment leaves your employment within their first 90 days, or you have to dismiss them for gross misconduct within that period, we will source and place a replacement worker and waive our recruitment fee for that replacement. The full conditions are on our guarantee terms page.
- A clear yes or no before you spend. Some jobs Kilkenny businesses ask us about cannot be filled on a permit at all, including general farm hands, shop assistants, bar staff and forklift drivers. Others are eligible but capped, and a cap can close at short notice. You hear which applies before any advert runs.
Still weighing up agencies? Our guide to choosing an overseas recruitment agency in Ireland sets out what to ask before you sign with anyone, including us.
Sectors we recruit for in Kilkenny
We recruit for any role that can get an Irish employment permit. Here is how the route applies to the sectors that employ the most people in Kilkenny, including the places it does not work:
- Healthcare and care: Kilkenny's biggest employer by sector. Registered nurses for hospitals, nursing homes and clinics qualify for the Critical Skills Employment Permit, and we handle their NMBI registration at the same time. Healthcare assistants qualify for a General Employment Permit. Care workers and home carers for home-support and disability providers are eligible too, inside a quota of 1,495 permits running from 13 May 2026. The salary floor for all three care roles is €32,691 a year, or €16.12 an hour on a 39-hour week. Our nursing recruitment agency and care recruitment agency pages go into more detail.
- Dairy and farming: by one CSO measure, Kilkenny's farms are the most productive in the country. The Census of Agriculture 2020 found that the median standard output of the county's 3,573 farms was €34,525, the highest of any county. Dairy farm assistant is an eligible occupation for the General Employment Permit, because DETE's ineligible list expressly excepts it from SOC 9111, and that exception is live today. No statutory cap applies to dairy permits today: S.I. 643/2025 set a figure of 850 permits from 17 December 2025, but that figure sat in Schedule 5 of the Regulations, which was replaced on 13 May 2026 without a dairy row. DETE has issued no notice closing dairy applications since 17 December 2025, and we confirm with DETE how your specific role is being handled before you spend anything. Pig farm assistant is the other named exception, and both roles sit on the standard €36,605 floor. Hiring a general hand for tillage, drystock or sheep work is not possible, because that role is classed as farm worker. Horticulture workers are eligible at €32,691, within a quota of 971 from 13 May 2026. Our agriculture recruitment agency page covers each farm role.
- Manufacturing and engineering: the third-largest sector in the county, and the one IDA client companies are growing. Permits cover the skilled end of the floor: maintenance technicians and fitters, electricians, CNC machinists, quality and process technicians, and engineers. Production operatives, packers and general line staff are on the ineligible list whatever the plant produces. See our manufacturing recruitment agency page.
- Hospitality: chefs for hotels, restaurants and cafés in Kilkenny city and the towns along the Nore, from commis level up, as long as the candidate has the experience DETE expects at that grade. Waiting staff, bar staff and kitchen assistants are ineligible. Four management roles reopened under quotas from 13 May 2026: hotel and accommodation managers (100 permits), restaurant and catering establishment managers (200), publicans and managers of licensed premises (50), and catering and bar managers (50). Each needs a new Labour Market Needs Test. See our hospitality recruitment agency page.
- Construction: qualified tradespeople for builders and contractors around the county. Labourers and general site operatives cannot be hired on a permit. For trades that qualify, pay must meet the higher of the DETE floor and the Sectoral Employment Order rate, which has been €23.74 an hour for a craftsperson since 1 August 2026. The trades that qualify are listed on our construction recruitment agency page.
- Wholesale and retail: the county's second-largest sector, at almost 5,800 workers, and mostly closed to permits. Sales and retail assistants, retail cashiers and shelf fillers are all on the ineligible list. Butchers and boners are the notable exception, eligible within a quota of 548 permits from 13 May 2026. See our retail recruitment agency page.
Not sure where your own role falls? A free eligibility check runs it against DETE's lists and confirms that any quota on it is still open. Our 2026 guide to employment permit quotas lists every capped occupation, and the sectors page covers the rest of what we recruit for.
How hiring through us works for a Kilkenny employer
Employment permits are decided by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) through one national process. There is no county office, and a Kilkenny application follows exactly the same steps as one from Cork or Dublin. Our base is in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary. Tipperary borders Kilkenny, but we have no office in Kilkenny, and we work with clients there by phone, WhatsApp, email and video. You never need us on site.
The General Employment Permit covers most of the roles listed above. Its standard salary floor is €36,605 a year, or €32,691 for healthcare assistants, care workers, home carers and horticulture workers. Nurses and other occupations on the Critical Skills list go through the Critical Skills Employment Permit. We work out which permit applies, run the Labour Market Needs Test where needed, prepare and submit the DETE application, and arrange the visa and the worker's travel. Our Work Permit Guide for Irish Employers covers each step in detail.
The two questions every Kilkenny employer asks are cost and time. Our fee is set in writing before we begin, and you pay us nothing until the worker has started. Government costs are separate; the largest is DETE's €1,000 fee for a General Employment Permit of more than six months. Our guide to the cost of hiring an overseas worker in Ireland adds employer PRSI and the salary floor to the total. On time: a General Employment Permit hire from a visa-required country like the Philippines takes about 6 months from first call to first shift. Where the candidate's country needs no Irish visa, such as Brazil, it takes about 4 to 5 months. Critical Skills hires need no Labour Market Needs Test, so they are quicker.
Hiring across the south-east? We work on the same terms with employers in Waterford and Wexford, and our overseas recruitment agency page covers the service nationwide.
Hiring in Kilkenny? Check the role first.
WhatsApp Monette on 089 416 6124 for a free eligibility check on your Kilkenny vacancy. She will tell you whether a permit is possible, which permit and pay floor apply, whether a quota is still open, and when a worker could realistically start. No obligation.
Why Kilkenny employers choose CA Recruitment
Filipino-Irish owned, based in Ireland
Monette is Filipino and lives in Ireland. She finds candidates through her own network in the Philippines, interviews them herself and checks their qualifications before you see a CV.
You sign, we do the rest
DETE is exact about every document. Getting it right is our job. Choosing from the shortlist and signing is yours.
90-day replacement guarantee
Lose the worker in the first 90 days, through resignation or a gross-misconduct dismissal, and we find a replacement at no further fee. Government costs are not covered.
Licensed and upfront on cost
WRC Employment Agency Licence No. EA 5444. You see our fee in writing before work starts. Government charges go through at cost.
Frequently asked questions
No. CA Recruitment has no office in Kilkenny city, Callan, Castlecomer, Thomastown or anywhere else in the county. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary. Kilkenny clients deal with us by phone, WhatsApp, email and video call, as clients in every county do. DETE processes employment permits nationally, so where an agency is located makes no difference to the application. We hold WRC Employment Agency Licence No. EA 5444.
For a hire on an employment permit, the agency's fee is paid by the employer, and section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 prohibits you from recovering recruitment costs from the worker. We agree our fee with you in writing before we start, and none of it is due until the worker has started with you. Government and third-party costs are separate from our fee and passed on at what they actually cost. DETE's charge is the largest: €1,000 for a General Employment Permit lasting more than six months and up to 24 months, or €500 for six months or less, with 90% refunded if the application is refused. Labour Market Needs Test advertising, where the role needs it, and the worker's visa, travel and medical costs are extra. You get every figure in writing before you commit.
Not always. You can apply to DETE for a permit yourself, and the law does not require an agency. An agency earns its fee on the hard parts: finding candidates abroad, confirming the occupation is eligible and any quota is open, setting pay at the right level, running a valid 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, and submitting an application DETE accepts. A mistake on any of those costs weeks, the advertising spend and 10% of the permit fee. If your HR team already does this well, you may not need us. If a Kilkenny role has been empty for months with no suitable applicants, that is exactly the job we do.
Yes. Dairy farm assistant is an eligible occupation for the General Employment Permit: DETE's ineligible list specifically excepts it from SOC 9111, and that exception is live today. No statutory cap applies to dairy permits at present. S.I. 643/2025 set a figure of 850 permits from 17 December 2025, but that figure was in Schedule 5 of the Regulations, and S.I. 213/2026 replaced that schedule on 13 May 2026 without a dairy row. DETE has issued no notice closing dairy applications since 17 December 2025. The salary floor is the standard €36,605, and a 28-day Labour Market Needs Test applies. What we cannot see from outside is how DETE is administering dairy applications in practice, so we confirm the current position with DETE for your specific role before you spend anything. Drystock, sheep and tillage farms are a different matter: a general farm hand counts as a farm worker, which is on the ineligible list.
Yes. Registered nurses are a Critical Skills occupation, so they come in on a Critical Skills Employment Permit without a Labour Market Needs Test, and they need NMBI registration before they can work as nurses. Healthcare assistants qualify for a General Employment Permit. So do care workers and home carers, within a quota of 1,495 permits from 13 May 2026. The minimum for all three is €32,691 a year, which is €16.12 an hour over 39 hours. Before any advertising starts, we check the care quota has not closed.
Allow about 6 months from first conversation to first day for a General Employment Permit hire from a visa-required country such as the Philippines. That includes the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE processing and the Irish entry visa. Where the candidate's country does not need an Irish visa, as with Brazil, there is no visa stage and the hire usually takes about 4 to 5 months. Critical Skills roles skip the Labour Market Needs Test and are faster again. Before you sign, we map out the timeline for your particular role.
If a worker placed by CA Recruitment leaves your employment within their first 90 days, or you have to dismiss them for gross misconduct within that period, we will source and place a replacement worker and waive our recruitment fee for that replacement. It covers our fee only. A fresh DETE permit fee, any new Labour Market Needs Test advertising, and the replacement worker's visa and travel are third-party costs outside the guarantee. The full conditions are on our 90-day replacement guarantee page.