The Ireland employment permit salary threshold figures changed on 1 March 2026, and a great deal of published advice including, until recently, some of ours, still quotes the old ones. If you are working from EUR 38,000, you are working from last year’s rule.
There is also a second figure most people never see until it refuses them, and the gap between it and the headline is nearly twenty-eight thousand euros.
The current thresholds
| Permit and situation | From 1 March 2026 | Previously |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Skills, with a relevant degree | EUR 40,904 | EUR 38,000 |
| Critical Skills, relying on experience rather than a relevant degree | EUR 68,911 | EUR 64,000 |
| Recent graduate, occupation on the Critical Skills Occupation List | EUR 36,848 | Qualification obtained within the 12 months before you apply |
The Department of Enterprise announced the change in December 2025, and Citizens Information sets out the permit conditions. Thresholds rose across every employment permit category on the same date, not only Critical Skills.
The EUR 28,000 trap
Look at the first two rows again. The difference between them is EUR 28,007, and what decides which applies to you is not your seniority or your salary. It is whether you hold a degree relevant to the role.
If you do, the bar is EUR 40,904, which is low for a professional role by western European standards. If you are relying on relevant experience instead, the bar is EUR 68,911, which is higher than Austria’s EU Blue Card threshold and higher than the UK Skilled Worker floor.
This catches a specific and large group: people who qualified through professional examinations rather than a university degree in the field. Accountancy, IT, engineering technology and much of finance are full of them. If that is you, establish which figure applies before you negotiate a salary, because it determines whether the offer works at all. See accountant jobs abroad for how that plays out in one profession.
Why Ireland is still worth the paperwork
Even after the rise, the Critical Skills permit is one of the better propositions in Europe, and for three reasons that have nothing to do with the salary figure.
- No labour market test for occupations on the Critical Skills Occupation List. That is the step employers find most burdensome, and skipping it makes you materially cheaper to hire.
- A fast route to residence compared with most of the alternatives, and family reunification is available.
- English-language workplace, with no separate language certificate to obtain, which is increasingly unusual: the UK now requires B2 for new applications and Germany requires German for settlement.
Against the UK specifically, the comparison is favourable in a way that surprises people. Ireland asks EUR 40,904 where the UK asks GBP 41,700, and the UK then charges an immigration health surcharge of GBP 1,035 per person per year which Ireland has no equivalent of. For a family of four over five years that is GBP 20,700 of difference. Full comparison in the easiest English speaking countries compared.
The roadmap, and what it means for planning
The 1 March 2026 increase was not a one-off. It is the first step of a published roadmap of gradual increases running through 2030, which the Irish government set out deliberately so that employers and applicants could plan.
That is unusually transparent and it has two practical consequences:
- Earlier is easier. If Ireland is your target and you are near the threshold, the bar you clear this year is lower than the one you will face in two.
- Any figure you read is dated. Treat every Irish salary threshold, including the ones on this page, as needing confirmation against the current published rate before you rely on it.
It also means a salary that clears the floor today by a small margin may not clear it at renewal. If you are negotiating, negotiate against the roadmap rather than against today’s number.
What to do
- Check whether your occupation is on the Critical Skills Occupation List, which decides whether the labour market test is waived: the current list.
- Establish which threshold applies to you, the degree one or the experience one. This is the single most important question here.
- If you graduated within the last 12 months, check the recent graduate rate of EUR 36,848.
- Confirm the figure officially before you negotiate. It moves annually on a published schedule.
- Compare the total cost, not the threshold. Ireland has no health surcharge, which is worth more than the difference in the headline figures.
Related: how to apply for a Critical Skills permit, getting an Irish job offer and manufacturing roles on the Irish list. Browse Irish shortage jobs with visa sponsorship on our board.
Last checked September 2026. Thresholds rose on 1 March 2026 and rise again on a roadmap running to 2030. The General Employment Permit threshold also rose on that date; confirm the current figure for your permit category with the Department of Enterprise before relying on it.
