Ireland
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Key Facts
Basics
Economy
Source: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0) · 2024 · Last checked: 2026-07-06
Tax snapshot
Source: National tax authority · Cross-check: OECD · PwC · KPMG · Last checked: 2026-07-16
Headline national rates only — surcharges, local taxes and reliefs are excluded. Verify the current rate with the authority before relying on it.
At a glance
An English-speaking EU base where the entry route splits across two departments — an employment permit from one, immigration permission from another — and where two recent duties reshape an employer's costs: statutory sick leave and pension auto-enrolment, live since January 2026. Housing is the constraint, and its rules changed nationally in March 2026.
Best for
Professionals in occupations on the critical-skills list, companies placing an EU entity in an English-speaking common-law jurisdiction, and employers who can absorb the recent payroll duties.
Who this may not suit
People who need affordable housing quickly in Dublin, or a founder without any EEA-resident director and no appetite for the statutory bond that stands in for one.
Main routes in
Key trade-offs
- The permit and the immigration permission are separate decisions by separate departments, so one approval does not complete the move.
- Payroll now carries statutory sick leave and pension auto-enrolment, both recent enough that older cost models understate them.
- Housing supply, not rules, is the binding constraint in the larger cities — the rent rules cap increases but do not create availability.
First steps
- 1 Check whether the role sits on the critical-skills list, because that decides which permit route applies.
- 2 Apply for a PPS number early, since tax, payroll and most state services depend on it.
- 3 If incorporating, decide the EEA-resident director question first — it changes what the filing needs.
What changes often
- · Which occupations sit on the critical-skills and ineligible lists
- · The salary thresholds attached to each permit type, which follow a published roadmap
- · The contribution steps of pension auto-enrolment, which rise over its first decade
Permit lists and salary thresholds are revised on a published schedule — confirm the current position with the enterprise department before an application is made. Department of Enterprise — Employment Permits ↗