Time to Act: Three Key Questions for Employers Ahead of March 1 Remuneration Increases for Employment Permits in Ireland

Ireland’s minimum annual remuneration thresholds for employment permits will increase, effective 1 March 2026, according to the Employment Permits Minimum Annual Remuneration: Outcome of the Roadmap Review 2025 (MAR). With changes taking effect in less than a month, across all permit routes, employers now face urgent decisions to safeguard their workforce and ensure compliance. A detailed breakdown of the initial and renewal MAR threshold increases is available found here.  

With the deadline fast approaching, here are three key questions employers should be asking.  

How Current Workforce May Be Affected?  

Salary increases could impact the existing workforce who hold employment permits. This is particularly true of General Employment Permit and Intra-Company Transfer Permit holders, but it may have implications for Critical Skills Employment Permit holders as well.  

According to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE), over 60% of foreign nationals who currently hold an employment permit in Ireland received a newly issued or renewed permit in 2024. Given permits are very often valid for two years, it’s highly likely that a large number of these individuals will be requiring a renewal in 2026. It is vital to identify employees in salary bands that could be affected by the upcoming increases.  This can be seen in the following example.  

In 2024, you may have hired and sponsored a recent university graduate on a General Employment Permit with an annual remuneration of €34,000 per annum. If their permit expires after 1 March 2026, and you have not submitted a renewal by 28 February 2026, they will now need to be earning €36,630 per annum to be eligible to continue working on foot of this permit. This will need to be demonstrated either by recent payslips, an employment verification letter or an amendment to their existing contract. If you cannot demonstrate this, the renewal application will be refused and they will no longer hold a right to work when their current permit expires.  

This typically won’t apply to employees already on Critical Skills Employment Permits who have completed 21 months of employment under this permit. They will be eligible to move to a Stamp 4 permission without the need to demonstrate an increase in their salary. However, where an employee has not completed 21 months on their current Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP), they will likely require a second CSEP to secure eligibility for the coveted Stamp 4 permission. This could be an issue if the employee started on a salary of less than almost 41,000 EUR. They will now need to be earning this threshold to obtain their bridging CSEP which will maintain their right to work until they qualify for Stamp 4 eligibility.  

As a final reminder, the deadline for filing employment permit renewals prior to these remuneration changes is 28 February 2026. You can only apply for an employment permit renewal within 16 weeks of an existing permit’s expiry.   

How Incoming Talent Pipeline May be Affected?  

Changes to regulations and workforce trends are affecting who we are hiring. Graduate talent pipeline is increasingly becoming a key resource for businesses expanding in Ireland. For example, if your business has a graduate programme, it will be important to consider whether changes to MAR could impact that potential workforce. Ten years ago, only about 10% of employment permits were issued to foreign nationals already in Ireland, such as students. As we enter 2026, that figure is closer to 30% of all permit holders.  

In a recent development, the Irish government has reintroduced- reduced salary thresholds for recent Irish graduates, for both General Employment Permit and Critical Skills Employment Permit categories. Candidates who have graduated from Irish third-level institutions in the last 12 months can now qualify for employers to avail of the lower threshold. Employers who hire a significant number of graduates should consider this well in advance to minimise disruption and ensure compliance. With the right preparation, businesses can navigate the evolving employment permit landscape and remain competitive in attracting top early career talent. 

It’s not just our student population that we need to take into account. The government has also updated Ireland’s occupation lists in recent years, including for example the removal of some construction-type roles from the ineligible occupation's lists.   

Business are looking further afield to hire and sponsor employees, across various sectors, such as those in construction, including scaffolders, welders and bricklayers. In 2025, over 2,000 permits were issued in the construction sector, representing a threefold increase compared to five years earlier, in line with the sweeping changes made by government to identify skills shortages across the country. Employers should be familiar with these increases to ensure that any eligibility concerns for a right to work are addressed well in advance.  

What These Increases Mean for Future Workforce Planning?  

Some employers may be breathing a sigh of relief if the current workforce is not impacted and planned hires are on track for the rest of 2026.    

The new remuneration thresholds announced in December last year, were not as high as it has been initially suggested by the DETE, with an increase in minimum annual remuneration of close to 8% instead of about 15% for both General and Critical Skills Employment Permit.  

Importantly, these increases are part of the broader government strategy and roadmap laid out by the Irish government back in 2023, and further increases are still to be set. More recently, the Programme for Government 2025 sets out a goal of creating 300,000 new jobs in Ireland by 2030, with a proactive roadmap suggesting that additional changes will follow. With figures for the 2027 MAR review still pending, developing a strategy around these changes will safeguard businesses and its future plans.    

“Need to Know More? 

For questions on increasing Irish employment permit pay thresholds and employer consideration for 2026, please reach out to Director Deirdre Murray at [email protected]. 

This blog was published on 16 February, 2026, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.