On 2 January 2025, the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment released statistics on employment permits for 2024. There was a total of 39,390 permits issued, 2,456 were refused, and 1,064 were withdrawn. Since 2021 there have been some fluctuations in the number of employment permits issued. While 2024 saw an increase of a little over 8,000 from the year before, it is slightly fewer than were seen in 2022 (39,955) which saw total issued employment permits more than double from the year prior.
Total employment permits issued by year, 2014 – 2024
Employment permits are issued to nationals from outside the European Economic Area who want to work in Ireland in sectors with labour shortages. The issuing of employment permits is regulated through two lists: the critical skills occupations list and the ineligible occupations list.
These lists determine sectors eligible for both critical skills employment permits and general employment permits, which come with different conditions. In response to widespread labor market shortages, there has been a significant expansion in the occupations eligible for employment permits in recent years. See recent EMN Ireland annual reports for more information.
By sector
Employment permits by sector 2020 – 2024
The sectors with the highest numbers of employment permits issued in 2024 were Health & Social Work Activities (12,501), Information & Communication Activities (6,788), Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (3,625), Accommodation & Food Service Activities (3,358), and Financial & Insurance Activities. The sectors included in the graph below were all in the top five for at least one year between 2020 and 2024.
Since 2020 the same five sectors have represented the highest shares of employment permits except in 2023 when Agriculture, Forestry, & Fishing saw a significant decrease from its 2022 peak of 4,311 to 1,385. This dip in employment permits in the Agriculture, Forestry, & Fishing sector in 2023 was also experienced by the Information & Communication Activities sector. While both increased in 2024, neither sector returned to their peak levels of 2022.
Only Health and Social Work Activities did not appear to experience a dip in employment permits following the sudden increase of 2022. Rather, in 2023 Health and Social Work Activities employment permits saw a slight increase to 10,037 followed by another significant increase in 2024 to 12,501.
By nationality
Employment permits by nationality 2014 – 2024
In 2024, the highest number of employment permits were issued to individuals from India (13,566), followed by Brazil (4,553), the Philippines (4,049), China (1,962), and Pakistan (1,742). While these five countries also represented the top nationalities receiving employment permits in 2023, there has been some variability since 2014. The nationalities included in the graph have been in the top five for at least one year since 2014.
Over the last 10 years, 9 countries have represented the highest shares of employment permits. Only India has been in the top five nationalities receiving employment permits each year since 2014.
By county
Employment permits by County 2017 – 2024
In 2024, the counties with the highest number of issued employment permits were Dublin (19,141), Cork (3,293), Kildare (2,342), Limerick (1,905), and Meath (1,511).
Since 2017, Dublin has held the highest share of employment permits by a wide margin, but since 2021, other counties have seen the number of employment permits increase significantly, in some cases more than doubling, and then continuing to increase although at a slower pace. For example, Waterford county had a total of 408 employment permits in 2021 which increased by 220% to 1,303 in 2022. While the number of employment permits in Waterford dropped in 2023 to 660, which was still a significant increase from 2021, this number increased again in 2024 to 1,297.
All data from the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment. Graphs created by EMN Ireland.
