In short: CA Recruitment is a WRC-licensed employment agency that works with Waterford employers who cannot fill roles from the local market. We source candidates from outside the EEA, most often the Philippines, and manage the full DETE employment permit: the eligibility check, the Labour Market Needs Test, the application, and the worker's visa. Every placement carries a 90-day replacement guarantee. We are based in Co. Tipperary and have no Waterford office — the permit process is national and runs remotely, so a Waterford employer gets exactly the same end-to-end management as any employer in Ireland.
Correct as of 22 September 2026. DETE salary thresholds, permit fees and quotas change during the year, and a quota can go from open to oversubscribed in a single notice. Get in touch and we will verify the current position for your specific role before you spend anything on the process.
A recruitment agency in Waterford for roles the local market will not fill
This page is for employers, not job seekers. If you run a business in Waterford and a vacancy has been open for months with no suitable applicants, the problem is usually not the advertisement. It is the pool. A conventional agency places people who are already entitled to work in Ireland, so a second agency working the same candidates rarely changes the outcome.
Waterford's employer base sits in the sectors that are hardest to staff: pharmaceutical, medical device and engineering manufacturing in the city and out at Dungarvan, University Hospital Waterford along with nursing homes, homecare providers and disability services across city and county, hotels and restaurants in the city, Tramore and Dungarvan, dairy and tillage farming through the county, meat and dairy processing, the fishing and seafood trade working out of Dunmore East, freight and distribution at the Port of Waterford at Belview and along the N25 and M9, and a residential and commercial build pipeline in the city and the county towns.
Hiring from outside the EEA on an Irish employment permit is a legitimate, well-established route into a much larger pool. The catch is the process. The role has to be eligible and not on DETE's Ineligible List of Occupations, the salary has to meet the minimum for that occupation, the Labour Market Needs Test has to run for 28 days, your workforce has to satisfy the 50:50 rule, and the application has to be right first time. That is the part most agencies will not take on, and it is the part CA Recruitment does.
What CA Recruitment does that a generalist agency will not
- Sourcing outside the EEA. Monette is Filipino, lives in Ireland, and sources candidates through her own direct networks in the Philippines. Where a role suits a candidate from another country, we source there too. You see people who match the role, not a database search.
- The DETE permit, end to end. We confirm the role against DETE's eligible and ineligible lists, set the salary at or above the correct threshold, run the Labour Market Needs Test, prepare and submit the application, and coordinate the worker's visa and travel. You review and sign the employer declaration on the application. We do the rest.
- A 90-day replacement guarantee. If a worker leaves within their first 90 days, or you dismiss them for gross misconduct in that period, we source a replacement and waive our recruitment fee for it. Read the full guarantee terms.
- Straight answers on eligibility and quotas. Some of the roles Waterford employers most want to fill are on the ineligible list, and some eligible ones sit behind a quota that can close without warning. We tell you that on the first call, before you advertise and before you spend anything.
Weighing up agencies for an overseas hire? Our guide to choosing an overseas recruitment agency in Ireland sets out the questions worth asking any agency, including us. Our guide to recruitment agency terms of business covers what you should expect to see in writing before you sign anything.
Sectors we recruit for in Waterford
CA Recruitment places overseas workers in any role eligible for an Irish employment permit. From Waterford employers, the demand we see most often is:
- Care: care assistants, home carers and home support workers for Waterford nursing homes, homecare providers and disability services. These roles take DETE's reduced rate of €16.12 an hour, which is €32,691 a year on a 39-hour week. Our care recruitment agency page covers the quota position and the pay floor in detail.
- Nursing: registered nurses for University Hospital Waterford, nursing homes and clinics across the county, on the Critical Skills route with NMBI registration managed alongside the permit. See our nursing recruitment agency page.
- Hospitality: qualified chefs, from Commis Chef upwards with the experience DETE asks for, for hotels and restaurants in the city, Tramore, Dungarvan and along the Copper Coast. Waiting, bar and kitchen-assistant roles are on the ineligible list. Hospitality management is eligible only within a quota: the single 292-permit pool those roles shared filled on 28 April 2026, and SI 213/2026 replaced it from 13 May 2026 with four separate and much smaller quotas — 100 permits for hotel and accommodation managers, 200 for restaurant and catering establishment managers, 50 for publicans and managers of licensed premises, and 50 for catering and bar managers — each needing a fresh Labour Market Needs Test. A quota that small can close without warning, so we check the position before you advertise. See our hospitality recruitment agency page.
- Pharmaceutical, medical device and engineering manufacturing: the roles that qualify in Waterford's plants are the skilled and technical ones — CNC operatives, welders and pipefitters, maintenance fitters, electricians, and technician, engineering and QC roles. General production and packing operatives are on the ineligible list, whatever the plant makes. See our manufacturing recruitment agency page.
- Agri-food and seafood: Waterford's food processing and its fishing trade both sit behind quotas, and the position is not the same for each. Meat processor operative is eligible at the reduced €32,691 and €16.12 an hour threshold, but DETE's notice of 26 August 2026 says that quota is oversubscribed and asks employers not to submit new applications at this time. Fish filleter and seafood operative were made eligible under quotas newly established by S.I. 213/2026 from 13 May 2026 — 50 permits for fish filleters and 100 for seafood operatives — and both need a fresh Labour Market Needs Test before an application can be submitted. We check the live position on the day you ask, not the last time we wrote it down.
- Construction: skilled trades for the city and county build pipeline. General labouring and site-operative roles do not qualify; the named trades do, and the minimum you must pay is whichever is higher — the DETE permit threshold or the legally binding Sectoral Employment Order rate for the trade. Our construction recruitment agency page covers the eligible trades and the pay floors.
- Agriculture: dairy and tillage are the anchor enterprises across Co. Waterford, and farm worker is on DETE's ineligible list. What is eligible is carved out of that list by name: the dairy farm assistant, and the horticulture worker for growers in the county. No statutory cap applies to dairy farm assistant today: S.I. 643/2025 set a figure of 850 permits from 17 December 2025, but S.I. 213/2026 replaced Schedule 5 on 13 May 2026 without a dairy row, and DETE has published no notice closing dairy applications between 17 December 2025 and 22 September 2026. Horticulture worker is capped at 971 permits from 13 May 2026. The job title on the application decides the outcome. See our agricultural recruitment agency page.
- Logistics: HGV drivers who hold a category CE or C1E licence, or an equivalent recognised through a Road Safety Authority mutual recognition agreement, for the distribution operations around the Port of Waterford at Belview and the N25 and M9 corridors. Elementary warehouse and storage operatives, fork-lift drivers and van drivers are on the ineligible list. See our logistics recruitment agency page.
Not sure your role qualifies? We confirm eligibility against DETE's lists during a free check, and check whether the occupation's quota is still open — our guide to Irish employment permit quotas in 2026 sets out which roles are capped this year. See the full list of sectors we cover.
How it works for a Waterford business
The employment permit process is national. Applications go to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE), not to any local office, so a Waterford employer is served exactly the same as one anywhere in Ireland. We are based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary and have no Waterford office. Everything runs by phone, WhatsApp, email and video, and nothing in the process needs an in-person visit.
For most roles the route is the General Employment Permit, where the minimum annual remuneration is generally €36,605, with a reduced floor of €32,691 for the named roles above. For registered nurses and other shortage occupations on the Critical Skills list it is the Critical Skills Employment Permit. CA Recruitment confirms the correct permit, runs the Labour Market Needs Test where required, prepares and submits the DETE application, and coordinates the worker's visa and arrival. The full journey is set out in our Work Permit Guide for Irish Employers.
Two figures every Waterford employer asks about. On cost, our recruitment fee is agreed in writing before any work begins, nothing is payable to us until the worker starts, and it is separate from government charges — the main one being the DETE application fee of €1,000 for a General Employment Permit of six to 24 months. Our guide to the cost of hiring an overseas worker in Ireland lays out every line, including employer PRSI and the salary floor. On time, allow 6 to 8 months from first call to start date for a candidate from a visa-required country such as the Philippines, or about 4 to 5 months from a non-visa-required country such as Brazil.
Hiring in more than one county, or nationally? Our overseas recruitment agency page covers the same service across Ireland, and we run the same process for employers in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick, and next door in Wexford.
Hiring in Waterford? Let's check eligibility.
WhatsApp Monette directly on 089 416 6124 for a free eligibility check. We'll confirm whether your Waterford roles qualify, the correct permit and salary threshold, whether the quota is open, and a realistic timeline. No commitment required.
Why Waterford employers work with CA Recruitment
Filipino-Irish owned, Ireland-based
Monette is Filipino and lives in Ireland. She sources candidates through her own direct networks in the Philippines: people she has spoken to and whose qualifications she has verified personally.
End-to-end permit management
The DETE process has precise requirements at every stage. We manage all of it. You review and sign documents and choose from the shortlist.
90-day replacement guarantee
If a placed worker leaves in the first 90 days, or is dismissed for gross misconduct in that period, we replace them and waive our fee for the replacement. Our fee only; government costs are not covered.
Licensed and transparent
CA Recruitment holds WRC Employment Agency Licence No. EA 5444. Fees are agreed upfront in writing; government charges are billed at cost.
Frequently asked questions
CA Recruitment is based in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary, and does not have a Waterford office. We work with Waterford employers the same way we work with employers everywhere in Ireland: by phone, WhatsApp, email and video. The employment permit process is national and runs through the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, not a local office, so nothing in the process needs an in-person visit. CA Recruitment holds WRC Employment Agency Licence No. EA 5444.
Irish recruitment agencies charge the employer a placement fee, and by law that fee cannot be passed to the worker. CA Recruitment agrees its fee with you in writing before any work begins, and nothing is payable to us until the worker starts with you. Government and third-party costs sit outside our fee and are passed through at cost: the DETE application fee of €1,000 for a General Employment Permit of six to 24 months, or €500 for one of six months or less; Labour Market Needs Test advertising where it is required; and the worker's visa, travel and medical costs. If DETE refuses the application, 90% of the application fee is refunded to the applicant. You get the full written breakdown before you commit to anything.
For the worker, no. Section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 stops an employer recovering permit costs, recruitment costs or travel costs it has already paid from the worker, and the Employment Agency Act 1971 stops an Irish employment agency charging a jobseeker a fee for finding them work. The employer pays. With CA Recruitment the fee is agreed in writing at the start, nothing is payable until the worker starts, and the government charges are billed separately at cost rather than marked up. Hiring an overseas worker is not free — the DETE permit fee and the visa costs are real and the employer carries them — so we set out every line before you decide.
You can apply for an employment permit yourself. DETE accepts applications direct from employers and no agency is required. An agency earns its fee only if it removes work you would otherwise do badly or not at all: finding candidates outside the EEA, checking the occupation against DETE's eligible and ineligible lists and its quota, setting the salary on the correct band, running the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, and getting the application right first time. A refused application costs you the advertising, the delay and 10% of the permit fee. If you already have a recruitment team doing that, you do not need us. If a Waterford vacancy has been open for months with no suitable applicant, that is the case for an agency.
Any role that is eligible for an Irish employment permit and not on the Ineligible List of Occupations. For Waterford employers that most often means care assistants and home carers, registered nurses, qualified chefs, skilled construction trades, dairy farm assistants and horticulture workers, HGV drivers holding a category CE or C1E licence or an equivalent recognised by the Road Safety Authority, and the skilled and technical roles in pharmaceutical, medical device and engineering manufacturing — CNC operatives, welders, maintenance fitters, electricians and QC technicians. Waiting staff, bar staff, general production and packing operatives, and elementary warehouse and storage operatives are on the ineligible list. Several of the roles Waterford employers ask for sit behind a quota rather than an eligibility problem: DETE's notice of 26 August 2026 asks employers not to submit new meat processing operative applications because that quota is oversubscribed, fish filleter and seafood operative were made eligible under quotas newly established by S.I. 213/2026 from 13 May 2026, at 50 and 100 permits, and need a fresh Labour Market Needs Test, and hospitality management roles are eligible only within the four separate quotas SI 213/2026 established from 13 May 2026 — 100 hotel and accommodation managers, 200 restaurant and catering establishment managers, 50 publicans and managers of licensed premises, and 50 catering and bar managers. No statutory cap applies to dairy farm assistant today: S.I. 643/2025 set a figure of 850 permits from 17 December 2025, but S.I. 213/2026 replaced Schedule 5 on 13 May 2026 without a dairy row, and DETE has published no notice closing dairy applications between 17 December 2025 and 22 September 2026. Horticulture worker is capped at 971 permits. Quota positions move, so we confirm whether a specific role qualifies and whether its quota is open during a free eligibility check.
Allow 6 to 8 months from the first conversation to the worker's start date for a candidate from a visa-required country such as the Philippines. That covers the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE processing and the visa. A candidate from a non-visa-required country such as Brazil needs no entry visa, so allow about 4 to 5 months. The Critical Skills route carries no Labour Market Needs Test, so it runs shorter again. We give you a realistic timeline for your role before you commit to anything.
If a worker we place leaves your employment within their first 90 days, or you dismiss them for gross misconduct within that period following a fair process, we source and place a replacement and waive our recruitment fee for that replacement. The guarantee covers our recruitment fee only. DETE permit fees, visa and travel costs are government and third-party charges and are not refunded by us. The full terms are on our 90-day replacement guarantee page.