Ireland: 2025 Submission Period Opens for Consultation on Occupation Lists

The situation

Effective July 23, 2025, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) is inviting submissions from stakeholders regarding the roles to be included on the Critical Skills Occupations List and the Ineligible Occupations List.

A closer look

• Occupation lists. The two lists under discussion are as follows:
  • Critical Skills Occupations This list outlines occupations with in-demand skills for which it is considered necessary to encourage the recruitment of non-European Economic Area/Swiss/UK nationals. Such foreign workers can apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit, which includes benefits such as better family reunification options and the possibility to eventually request permission to work without an employment permit.
  • Ineligible Occupations List. The list identifies employment categories that are ineligible for employment permit applications in Ireland.
• Submission period and process. Submissions will be accepted through the online consultation form from July 23, 2025, to September 19, 2025. Fragomen can assist with the submission process.
• Details of submission. Stakeholders should include any information in their submission that they consider to be relevant to their sector, including, but not limited to, data on skills or labour shortages, information on recruitment efforts, and any retention issues that have arisen for particular occupations.

Impact

Stakeholders who make submissions are able to provide information to help the government accurately assess the current state of the labour market and therefore, more accurately capture which occupations should be on the relevant lists.

Background

• Other roles. Roles with a salary of less than EUR 64,000 that are not included on the Critical Skills Occupations List may be eligible for other employment permit types (including a General Employment Permit, a Seasonal Employment Permit or a Contract for Services Employment Permit), subject to the employer passing a labour market test. Roles on the Ineligible Occupations List are generally not eligible for employment permits. However, neither list applies to the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) employment permit, which is available for all role types, subject to conditions.
• Last review. The last review of the occupations lists took place in 2023, and resulted in 11 additional roles being placed on the Critical Skills Occupations List, and 32 roles being made eligible for a General Employment Permit.
• Skills shortage. Amid an ongoing skills shortage (including a very low unemployment rate), the consultation will focus heavily on which roles currently included on the Ineligible Occupations List should be removed; and which roles, if any, should be added to the Critical Skills Occupations List, bolstering the attractiveness of those roles to foreign talent. 

Looking ahead

• After the submission deadline has passed, Irish authorities will assess the information they have collected and proceed to revise the lists to better reflect the current state of the labour market. This will enable employers to submit immigration applications for occupations which are successfully made eligible for employment permits.
• Minimum salary level inquiry. In addition to this occupations list review, Irish authorities are also reviewing Minimum Annual Remuneration (MAR) thresholds for various permit types, with current minimum salary levels remaining frozen pending the outcome of that review process. It is currently expected that the results of this review will be known in September 2025, in line with the legislative requirement to review the MAR thresholds every 12 months.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].