In short: Waterford's permit refusal rate has swung further than any other county's over the last three years. In 2023 it had the lowest refusal rate in the State, 2.4%. In 2024 its permits almost doubled and its refusal rate, 18.7%, was the highest in the State. In 2025 both fell back. CA Recruitment is a WRC-licensed employment agency (Licence No. EA 5444) that recruits from outside the EEA, largely from the Philippines, and handles the DETE permit for the employer. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary, and have no office in Waterford.
Checked on 12 October 2026. Salary floors, permit fees and quotas are changed by DETE during the year, and the smallest quotas can fill within weeks. Ask us about your role and we will check the current position before you commit any money.
Waterford's permits, 2023 to 2025: a spike and a fall
From DETE's permits by county tables:
| Year | Permits issued, Waterford | Refused, Waterford | Waterford refusal rate | National refusal rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 660 | 16 | 2.4% | 4.8% |
| 2024 | 1,297 | 298 | 18.7% | 5.9% |
| 2025 | 695 | 67 | 8.8% | 10.0% |
2024 is the year to look at. Waterford was issued 1,297 permits, almost twice the 660 of 2023, and 298 of its applications were refused. That was more than three times the national refusal rate. Waterford took 3.3% of the permits issued in Ireland that year but accounted for 12.1% of all refusals. In 2025 its permits fell 46%, to 695, and its refusal rate dropped to 8.8%, under the national 10.0%.
DETE does not publish reasons for refusals by county or by employer, so the tables do not explain 2024. The next section suggests why a single year can swing this far in Waterford.
A handful of large employers move Waterford's figures
DETE's list of companies issued permits has no county attached. We matched it against the Companies Registration Office and kept employers with a registered office in Co. Waterford. Registered offices are not always where people work, and not every name matches, so treat these as approximate.
About 110 matched Waterford employers received a permit in 2025. Three in four received one or two, and over half received exactly one. The concentration sits at the top: the five largest took nearly six in ten of the county's matched permits, and the biggest single employer more than a fifth. In a county like that, one large employer's recruiting drive can move the whole county's figures in a year. Our match covers 2025's issued permits only, so it cannot say whether that is what happened in 2024.
For a smaller Waterford employer, the practical point is that the county averages say little about your own application. Whether a permit is granted depends on the occupation, the salary, the Labour Market Needs Test and the 50:50 rule, and all of those can be checked before you apply.
What a permit covers in Waterford's main industries
- Seafood and fishing: fish filleter and seafood operative were taken off the Ineligible List of Occupations by S.I. 213/2026 and given quotas from 13 May 2026, 50 permits for fish filleters and 100 for seafood operatives. Sea fisher in the Irish fishing fleet is also an exception on the list. With quotas that small, we check they are still open before any advert goes up.
- Pharmaceutical, medical device and engineering plants: maintenance fitters, electricians, CNC machinists, technicians, engineers and quality roles. General production and packing operatives are ineligible. Our manufacturing hiring guide covers which roles qualify.
- Hospitals, nursing homes and home care: registered nurses on the Critical Skills Employment Permit, once registered with NMBI. Healthcare assistants, care workers and home carers on a General Employment Permit at €16.12 an hour, which is €32,691 a year on a 39-hour week; care workers and home carers are within a quota of 1,495 permits from 13 May 2026. See our care recruitment agency page.
- Dairy farms: farm worker is on the ineligible list, but dairy farm assistant and pig farm assistant are named exceptions and can be hired at the standard €36,605 minimum. A general farm hand cannot. See our agriculture recruitment agency page.
- Hotels and restaurants in the city, Tramore, Dungarvan and the Copper Coast: chefs from commis chef up, with the experience DETE expects at that grade. Waiting, bar and kitchen-assistant roles are ineligible, and hospitality managers are capped at 100, 200, 50 and 50 permits for the four management roles from 13 May 2026. See our hospitality recruitment agency page.
- Port and haulage: HGV drivers with a category CE or C1E licence, or an equivalent the Road Safety Authority recognises, for freight around the port at Belview and the N25 and M9. Fork-lift drivers, van drivers and elementary warehouse operatives are ineligible. See our logistics recruitment agency page.
Construction craft trades such as bricklayers and carpenters qualify at the higher of the DETE threshold and the Sectoral Employment Order rate; labourers do not. The 2026 quota guide lists every capped occupation.
Working with us from Tipperary
We are in Ballyporeen, in south Tipperary, and work with Waterford employers by phone, WhatsApp, email and video. The permit itself is decided by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, so there is no local office involved. 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 where a role is better filled there. We confirm the role is eligible, set the salary, run the Labour Market Needs Test, prepare the DETE application and organise the visa and travel. You check the application and sign the employer declaration.
DETE charges €1,000 for a General Employment Permit of more than six months and up to 24 months, and keeps 10% of it if the application is refused. Our fee is agreed in writing at the outset, is due only once the worker has started, and comes with a 90-day replacement guarantee. From first call to first shift, a hire from the Philippines takes about 6 months because of the Irish visa stage; from a visa-exempt country such as Brazil, about 4 to 5 months. The cost guide adds up every line.
Hiring elsewhere in the south-east? See our Kilkenny, Wexford and Cork pages.
Hiring in Waterford? See if the role qualifies.
WhatsApp Monette on 089 416 6124 for a free eligibility check. She will tell you whether your Waterford vacancy can be filled on a permit, which permit and salary floor apply, whether the quota is still open, and a realistic start date.
Frequently asked questions
DETE does not publish its reasons by county, so nobody outside the Department can say for certain. What the figures show is that Waterford's applications rose sharply that year: 1,297 permits were issued and 298 refused, a refusal rate of 18.7%, the highest of any county in 2024. A small number of large employers account for much of Waterford's permit volume, so one employer's applications can move the county's figures.
DETE issued 695 employment permits to Waterford employers in 2025, 2.2% of the national total, with 67 refused. In 2024 the county was issued 1,297, and in 2023, 660. Its refusal rate was 2.4% in 2023, 18.7% in 2024 and 8.8% in 2025.
Yes, within a quota. S.I. 213/2026 made fish filleter and seafood operative eligible for a General Employment Permit from 13 May 2026, with quotas of 50 and 100 permits. With quotas that small, it is worth checking they are still open before running the Labour Market Needs Test.
Yes, as a dairy farm assistant. Farm worker is on DETE's Ineligible List of Occupations, but dairy farm assistant and pig farm assistant are named exceptions and can be hired on a General Employment Permit at the standard €36,605 minimum. A general hand on a beef or tillage farm cannot. The duties in the job description decide which side of the line the role falls.
No. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary, and work with Waterford employers by phone, WhatsApp, email and video call. DETE decides employment permits centrally, so nothing in the process depends on where the agency is. Our WRC Employment Agency Licence number is EA 5444.