In short: Yes — Irish employers can hire overseas healthcare assistants, home support workers and nurses. Healthcare Assistants and Home Support Workers qualify for a General Employment Permit at the reduced €32,691 threshold; nurses are typically eligible for the Critical Skills Employment Permit. CA Recruitment manages the full DETE permit and visa process.
Struggling to Find Reliable Healthcare Staff?
Every nursing home, care home, and home care provider in Ireland is trying to recruit from the same thin local pool. The candidates with the right experience have options. The ones who do take the role often leave within months. Meanwhile your rota is held together by agency staff that costs more and doesn't know your residents or clients.
The impact goes beyond operational inconvenience. Staffing gaps in care settings directly affect the standard of care you can provide — and your ability to meet the standards that inspections expect.
- Qualified healthcare assistants and care workers are consistently difficult to recruit locally
- High turnover disrupts continuity of care for residents and clients
- Agency dependency is expensive and creates inconsistency across shifts
- Existing staff absorb extra pressure to cover gaps that shouldn't be there
- Hiring overseas raises compliance questions that most employers don't know how to answer
The shortage is structural and has been building for years. Overseas recruitment via the employment permit route has become a practical, workable response — and a growing number of Irish care providers are using it successfully.
Why Healthcare Providers Are Hiring Overseas Staff
The Local Pool Is Not Enough
The number of people entering care roles locally has not kept pace with demand. An ageing population means more care is needed year on year. The gap between what's needed and what the domestic market can supply is not closing.
Overseas Staff Stay
A healthcare worker who has relocated via employment permit has committed to this role in a way that casual or agency hires simply haven't. The process requires effort on their part too. That commitment translates into attendance, reliability, and retention that is consistently better than the alternative.
Continuity of Care
Care settings depend on consistent staffing. When your residents or clients see the same faces, outcomes improve. The permit route creates a two-year commitment from the worker. That kind of continuity cannot be bought from an agency.
You Can Plan Your Service
When you know who is going to be on the floor for the duration of a permit, you can plan your service, your rotas, and your capacity. Staffing stops being the thing that dictates what your organisation can and cannot do.
Healthcare Roles We Help Fill
The employment permit route in healthcare is well-established. The main roles we place, and the applicable permit routes, are:
🏥 Healthcare Assistants
Personal care, mobility assistance, dignity care, and support of clinical staff in nursing homes, care homes, and hospital settings. Candidates are screened for relevant care experience and assessed for suitability. General Employment Permit. Minimum pay: €16.12/hr (€32,691/yr on a 39-hour week).
🏠 Home Support Workers
Personal care and support for individuals in their own homes — washing, dressing, meals, companionship, and mobility assistance. Experience with the Irish home care context is prioritised during vetting. General Employment Permit. Minimum pay: €16.12/hr (€32,691/yr on a 39-hour week).
♿ Support Workers (Disability Services)
Personal and community support for people with intellectual and physical disabilities. Requires patience, communication skills, and experience with supported living environments. Permit eligibility and applicable salary confirmed during the free consultation.
🏡 Residential Care Staff
Care and support roles in residential settings for older people, people with disabilities, and people in supported accommodation. Role-specific permit eligibility confirmed during consultation — the applicable route depends on the exact role title and responsibilities.
👩⚕️ Registered Nurses
Registered nurses from the Philippines are on DETE's Critical Skills Occupations List. They must register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) before they can practise — this is a statutory requirement and a separate process from the employment permit. Critical Skills Employment Permit. Minimum annual salary: €40,904.
A Note on Qualification Requirements
Healthcare roles carry regulatory and quality expectations that go beyond other sectors. CA Recruitment verifies relevant experience and assesses suitability for care settings during sourcing — candidates who don't meet those standards don't reach your shortlist. For nursing roles specifically, NMBI registration is a legal requirement before any candidate can start work, and we advise on that process from the outset. We do not make claims about certification or qualifications that we cannot verify. Contact us to discuss the specific requirements for your vacancy.
Need Reliable Healthcare Staff? Let's talk.
Tell us the role and your setting. We'll confirm whether overseas recruitment works for your organisation — what qualifies, what salary applies, and what a realistic timeline looks like. No obligation.
Qualified, Vetted, and Ready to Work
Healthcare is not a sector where you can take shortcuts on people. CA Recruitment's sourcing and vetting process reflects that.
Experience Verified
Candidates are assessed for relevant care experience before being shortlisted. We do not send you people who have never worked in a care or clinical setting. The type of experience — nursing home, home care, hospital, disability services — is matched to your specific setting.
References Checked
Employment references are checked as part of the vetting process. We follow up. We do not take references at face value from CVs and we do not shortlist candidates whose references we cannot verify.
English Proficiency
English is an official language of the Philippines and the medium of healthcare education and training throughout the system. Clinical communication with residents, patients, families, and colleagues is not a barrier. We assess English communication as part of candidate assessment.
Suitability for Care Settings
Care work requires more than a clean CV. We assess candidates for the communication style, patience, and approach that care settings demand. If a candidate isn't suited to the environment you're describing, they don't reach your shortlist.
Regulatory Registration Guidance
Where roles require regulatory registration — NMBI for nurses — we advise on the process and support candidates through it. We are clear about timelines and do not make promises we cannot keep about registration outcomes.
Supporting Healthcare Employers
Most care providers come to us after months of agency dependency, failed local recruitment, or both. Once they've been through the process with us once, they typically ask: why didn't we do this sooner?
"The compliance piece was what worried me most: work permits, visas, the whole lot. CA handled every bit of it. Our new accounts administrator was in the office and productive within two months of first contact."
"We needed reliable staff for our shop in Midleton and couldn't find the right people locally. CA Recruitment placed two excellent Filipino workers with us — both have been brilliant from day one. Couldn't recommend them highly enough."
We Handle the Hard Parts
When you work with CA Recruitment, you are not expected to understand the employment permit system, the DETE application process, or the visa requirements. That is our job.
You don't have to manage:
- Searching for qualified care workers in an overseas market you've never hired from
- Verifying experience and references across different time zones
- Understanding which roles qualify for which permit type — and at what salary
- Preparing or submitting permit documentation to DETE
- Running the Labour Market Needs Test across the required platforms (for GEP roles)
- Coordinating employment visas from the Philippine end
- Advising on NMBI registration timelines for nursing candidates
- Managing arrival logistics and first-week administration on your own
You describe the role, the setting, and what you need from the person. We do the rest.
Sourcing & Vetting
We source candidates in the Philippines with verified experience matched to your care setting — nursing home, home care, disability services, or residential care. Experience is checked before anyone reaches your shortlist.
Shortlisting for Your Setting
You receive a shortlist of candidates matched to your specific organisation — the type of care, the residents or clients, the team environment. You interview and decide. We make sure everyone you speak to is a realistic fit.
Permit Process Support
We guide you through the employment permit requirements, prepare documentation, run the Labour Market Needs Test where required, and manage the DETE application. You don't need to know the system — that's what we're here for.
Documentation Guidance
We coordinate the employment visa from the Philippine end and manage the documentation requirements on both sides so delays don't come from paperwork.
Arrival & Onboarding Support
We support the worker through arrival, IRP registration with Immigration Service Delivery (ISD), PPS number, and bank account. We check in during the first 90 days.
Simple, Supported Hiring Process
We support you throughout the process so you are not left dealing with complexity alone.
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Tell Us Your Staffing Needs
Tell us the role, the care setting, and what you need from the person day to day. We confirm whether the role and your organisation qualify — checking the 50/50 workforce rule (at least 50% EEA nationals required), the appropriate permit type, and the applicable salary threshold for your vacancy.
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We Source and Vet Suitable Candidates
We source in the Philippines, verify care experience matched to your setting, check references, and shortlist against your specific requirements. For GEP roles, we also run the Labour Market Needs Test — 28 consecutive days on the DSP Employment Services/EURES network (jobsireland.ie) and one additional online platform, managed entirely by us.
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You Interview and Choose
You review the shortlist and interview the candidates who look right for your organisation. You make the decision. We make sure everyone you're speaking to meets the permit requirements and is a realistic fit for your setting before the interview stage.
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We Guide the Permit and Documentation Process
We prepare and submit the DETE permit application and coordinate the employment visa from the Philippine end. DETE publishes live processing dates at enterprise.gov.ie — we track progress and keep you updated throughout.
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Your Staff Member Arrives and Starts
We support the worker through arrival, IRP registration with Immigration Service Delivery (ISD), PPS number, and bank account setup. We check in during the first 90 days.
Common Concerns, Answered Clearly
We source specifically for care roles and assess candidates against the experience and personal qualities your setting requires. Relevant care experience is verified. References are checked. We do not shortlist candidates who haven't worked in care before or whose references don't hold up. For nursing roles, NMBI registration is a legal requirement and we are clear about the pathway and timelines from the outset. We do not make promises about certification or outcomes we cannot deliver.
Filipino healthcare workers are educated in English. Nursing and healthcare training in the Philippines is delivered in English — it is not translated from another language. Communication with residents, patients, families, and colleagues is not a barrier. English proficiency is assessed during vetting. We do not shortlist candidates whose ability to communicate in a care setting isn't clear.
CA Recruitment sources candidates with relevant care experience and vetted references. Meeting your specific regulatory and quality standards is something we discuss at the consultation stage — we match candidates to your setting, not the other way around. We do not source generic workers and assign them to care roles. If a candidate's background doesn't match what you need, they don't reach your shortlist. You then interview and decide before any permit is submitted.
The permit process has moving parts, but your involvement is limited to the consultation, reviewing a shortlist, and conducting interviews. CA Recruitment manages the Labour Market Needs Test (where required), DETE permit documentation, visa coordination, and arrival support. Most employers find it far less involved than they expected once they realise they don't need to understand the system themselves. The Work Permit Guide covers the full process in plain language if you want to read ahead.
For General Employment Permit roles (healthcare assistants, home support workers), the realistic timeline from first call to the worker starting is 6 to 8 months. This includes the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE processing, visa approval, and travel from the Philippines. DETE processing times change — we track the current position from day one. For registered nurses, additional time is needed alongside the permit for NMBI registration, and we give you a realistic picture of that timeline at the consultation. The practical point: if your organisation is short-staffed now, start now. Waiting doesn't shorten the timeline.
The vetting process — experience verified, references checked, matched to your care setting — is designed to reduce that risk significantly. Healthcare workers placed via employment permit have chosen this role and this organisation. That commitment is not the same as a casual hire from an agency. Our FAQ page has more detail on how placements and replacements work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Healthcare assistants and home support workers qualify for the General Employment Permit at a minimum hourly rate of €16.12 — €32,691 per year on a 39-hour week, or €33,529.60 on a 40-hour week. Registered nurses on the Critical Skills Occupations List may qualify for the Critical Skills Employment Permit at a minimum annual salary of €40,904. Eligibility for other care and support roles is confirmed during the free consultation, as it depends on the specific role title. See our Work Permit Guide for a full explanation of both permit types.
Minimum salaries under DETE's employment permit rules:
- Healthcare assistants and home support workers (GEP) — €16.12 per hour: €32,691 per annum on a 39-hour week, or €33,529.60 on a 40-hour week (DETE reduced rate for these specific categories)
- Registered nurses (CSEP) — €40,904 per annum
- Other care/support roles — applicable salary confirmed during the free consultation
The qualifying salary must be basic pay. Guaranteed premium payments can count towards it, but bonuses, shift allowances, and overtime cannot. All workers must also be paid at least the Irish National Minimum Wage (€14.15/hr as of January 2026) for all hours worked.
Yes. Nurses from the Philippines must register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) before they can practise in Ireland. This is a statutory requirement and is separate from the employment permit process. NMBI assesses qualifications from the Philippines and the registration process takes time alongside the permit application. CA Recruitment advises on the NMBI pathway from the outset so you have a realistic picture of the full timeline before you commit to anything.
It depends on the permit type. The General Employment Permit (used for healthcare assistants and home support workers) requires a 28-day Labour Market Needs Test — advertising on the DSP Employment Services/EURES network (jobsireland.ie) and one additional online platform. The Critical Skills Employment Permit (used for registered nurses) does not require a Labour Market Needs Test. CA Recruitment manages the LMNT process where required — you don't need to run it yourself.
Yes. At least 50% of your workforce must be EEA nationals at the time of the permit application. This applies to both the GEP and the CSEP, and to nursing homes, care homes, home care providers, and disability services regardless of size. The only exemption is for start-up businesses within 2 years of establishment with formal Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland support — which covers almost no care providers. CA Recruitment checks your eligibility during the free consultation before anything goes to DETE.
For GEP roles (healthcare assistants, home support workers), the typical timeline is 6 to 8 months from first consultation to the worker starting. This includes the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE permit processing, visa approval, and travel. DETE processes applications in date order — check live processing dates at enterprise.gov.ie. For registered nurses, additional time is needed for NMBI registration alongside the permit process — we give you a realistic timeline at the outset.
No recruitment fee to CA Recruitment until the worker arrives and starts. The main external cost is the DETE permit fee — €1,000 for a General Employment Permit (up to 24 months) or a Critical Skills Employment Permit (2-year permit, paid by the employer on application). All costs are explained during the free consultation. No obligation to proceed. Book yours here.