In short: Mayo's employment permit numbers jumped in 2024 and fell straight back in 2025. DETE issued 378 permits to Mayo employers in 2023, 504 in 2024 and 383 in 2025. Refusals did not fall with them: DETE turned down 45 Mayo applications in 2025, the most of the three years, and the county's refusal rate passed 10%. 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 Mayo.
Checked on 12 October 2026. Salary floors, permit fees and quotas are DETE's to change, and they do change during the year. Contact us and we will tell you where your role stands now, before you pay for an advert.
Up a third, then back again
DETE's permits by county tables give Mayo's figures for the last three years:
| Year | Permits issued, Mayo | Refused, Mayo | Mayo refusal rate | National refusal rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 378 | 19 | 4.8% | 4.8% |
| 2024 | 504 | 36 | 6.7% | 5.9% |
| 2025 | 383 | 45 | 10.5% | 10.0% |
Mayo has tracked the national pattern, a little sharper in each direction. The national total rose 27% in 2024 and fell 21% in 2025. Mayo rose 33% and then fell 24%, ending 2025 just five permits above where it was in 2023. Mayo employers received 1.2% of all permits issued in Ireland in 2025.
The refusal rate tells a steadier story. In 2023 Mayo's rate matched the national 4.8% exactly. In each year since it has been slightly above: 6.7% against 5.9% in 2024, and 10.5% against 10.0% in 2025. One decided application in ten from Mayo was refused last year. When that happens DETE keeps 10% of the permit fee, and the advertising and the weeks already spent are lost.
Mayo's permit employers: small firms, more trades and motor businesses
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. Mayo: 87 employers, holding 289 of the county's 383 permits in 2025. A registered office is not always where the work happens, and not every company matches, so read the figures as proportions rather than a headcount.
- Size: about six in ten matched employers received one or two permits. Seven received ten or more, and no single employer received more than 20. The five largest held a quarter of the matched total.
- Sector: 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, construction, engineering and trades firms held about 15% of the matched Mayo permits, against about 6% across the whole list. Motor businesses, such as garages and dealers, held about 8%, against about 2%. Health and care held about 13%, well below the 23% it holds across the list.
Which Mayo roles a permit can fill
- Nursing and care: registered nurses for hospitals, nursing homes and clinics 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.
- Construction and engineering trades: qualified craftspeople, 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.
- Motor trade: qualified motor mechanics and panel beaters can be hired on a General Employment Permit, within quotas of 1,000 and 102 permits from 13 May 2026, and DETE requires a new Labour Market Needs Test for both. A garage manager (SOC 1252) is on the Ineligible List; a service manager or garage foreman supervising the mechanics codes to SOC 5250 and is eligible. The job description has to match the work the person will actually do.
- Manufacturing: manufacturing and engineering plants in the county can hire skilled and technical staff on permits: maintenance fitters, electricians, CNC machinists, and technician, engineering and quality roles. General production and packing operatives are on the Ineligible List of Occupations. See our manufacturing recruitment agency page.
- Meat processing and farming: DETE's notice of 26 August 2026 says the meat processor operative quota is oversubscribed and asks employers not to submit new applications. Butchers and boners have a separate quota of 548 permits from 13 May 2026. Farm worker is ineligible, so a general hand on a beef or sheep farm cannot be hired on a permit; dairy farm assistant and pig farm assistant are named exceptions at the standard €36,605 floor. See our agriculture recruitment agency page.
- Hospitality: chefs from commis chef up for Westport, Achill and the coast. Waiting staff, bar staff and kitchen assistants are ineligible, and 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.
Our 2026 guide to employment permit quotas lists every capped occupation.
How a Mayo hire works with us
Every application goes to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, whichever county it comes from, so we work 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, going to other countries when a role suits them better. We check the occupation and salary, run the Labour Market Needs Test, prepare the application and arrange the visa and travel. You review the application and sign the employer declaration.
We agree our fee in writing before we start, and it is not due until the worker has started. DETE charges its own fee on top: €1,000 for a General Employment Permit of more than six months and up to 24 months. Every placement carries a 90-day replacement guarantee on our fee. Allow about 6 months from first call to first shift for a candidate from a visa-required country such as the Philippines, or about 4 to 5 months where the candidate needs no Irish visa, as with Brazil. The Work Permit Guide for Irish Employers covers each step, and our cost guide adds up the full bill.
Hiring elsewhere in the west or north-west? See our Galway, Sligo and Donegal pages.
Hiring in Mayo? Check the role first.
WhatsApp Monette on 089 416 6124 for a free eligibility check. She will confirm whether your Mayo vacancy can go on a permit, which permit and salary floor apply, whether a quota is open, and how long the hire should take.
Frequently asked questions
DETE issued 504 permits to Mayo employers in 2024 and 383 in 2025, a fall of 24%. Permits fell nationally too, by 21%, so Mayo moved with the country, slightly further. The 2025 figure was close to 2023's 378. Refusals rose over the same period, from 36 to 45, and Mayo's refusal rate reached 10.5% against 10.0% nationally.
Not as meat processor operatives for now. DETE's notice of 26 August 2026 says that quota is oversubscribed and asks employers not to submit new applications. Butchers and boners are a separate occupation with their own quota of 548 permits from 13 May 2026, and both routes need a Labour Market Needs Test. We check the quota position with you before anything is advertised.
Yes, within a quota. Qualified motor mechanics and panel beaters can be hired on a General Employment Permit, at the standard €36,605 minimum, within quotas of 1,000 and 102 permits from 13 May 2026, after a new 28-day Labour Market Needs Test. A garage manager (SOC 1252) is on the Ineligible List, while a service manager or garage foreman supervising the mechanics (SOC 5250) is eligible, so the job description has to describe the work the person will actually do.
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 register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) and then come in on a Critical Skills Employment Permit, with no Labour Market Needs Test.
No. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary, with no office in Castlebar, Ballina, Westport, Claremorris or elsewhere in Mayo. We work by phone, WhatsApp, email and video call, and DETE decides every application centrally, so the agency's location makes no difference to the process. Our WRC Employment Agency Licence number is EA 5444.