Main contractors, engineering consultancies and specialist subcontractors recruit through licensed agencies across Ireland, and site work carries a training and card requirement that sits entirely outside the permit system.
Construction splits in two when it meets the permit system. Professional engineering, surveying and project management unit groups are named on the Critical Skills Occupations List. Several site trades and operative groups are named on the Ineligible List of Occupations instead. The occupations below show which published list names each one, in DETE's own wording.
The professional groups and the site trades sit on opposite published lists, so the split runs through the middle of a single project team.
Engineering Professionals
Critical Skills list
Architects, Town Planners and Surveyors
Critical Skills list
Architects, Town Planners and Surveyors
Critical Skills list
Electrical and Electronic Trades
Not named on either list
Named on neither published list, which is not the same as being named on either.
Construction and Building Trades
Not named on either list
Named on neither published list, which is not the same as being named on either.
Construction and Building Trades
Ineligible list, with exceptions
Lists effective 13 May 2026 (SI 213 of 2026). Official sources: Critical Skills List · Ineligible List. Being named on a list is a fact about a published table, not a decision about any application.
From the current Workplace Relations Commission licence register.
1 published agency record states this sector.
Site access is its own layer: Safe Pass is required for construction site work and specified activities need a skills card, both decided by SOLAS rather than by any permit. Confirm the current requirement with the body itself.
Safe Pass safety awareness training for construction site work, and the Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards that cover specified plant and skilled activities.
Chartered Engineer title, and assessment of engineering qualifications gained outside Ireland.
The statutory register of architects. The title architect is protected in Ireland under the Building Control Act 2007.
Professional membership and chartered status for quantity surveyors and building surveyors.
Ordered by published permit activity in the same period, so the ranking is one the source supports.
Hospital groups, nursing homes, home care providers and disability services sit at the top of Ireland's published employment permit statistics, and most clinical roles answer to a registration body before anyone can practise here.
Medtech, pharmaceutical, food and precision engineering plants recruit through licensed agencies across Ireland, and the permit position changes sharply between the technical roles and the process operative groups.
Hotels, restaurants and contract catering recruit year round, and the permit position for kitchen roles turns on the exact grade and the years of experience named in the published DETE row.
Every licensed agency on this page comes from the WRC register. Advantage adds presence on the sector and occupation pages your roles belong to; Premier takes the sponsored position at the top of the sectors you name.
Occupation lists: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, effective 13 May 2026 (SI 213 of 2026). Occupation classification: SOC 2010.
Permit statistics: DETE employment permit statistics (Year to date: January–July 2026).
Agency records: Workplace Relations Commission licensed employment agency list, source date 1 August 2026.
An occupation (SOC) code classifies the kind of work. It does not by itself determine permit eligibility, Critical Skills status, or sponsorship. Job duties, salary, employer and permit route also matter.
Figures are historical issued-permit records showing past activity only. They do not prove current hiring, future sponsorship, role eligibility, or approval.
A WRC licence listing is official source data. It is not a government endorsement, proof of current vacancies, or proof of sponsorship capability. IrishTalents enrichment is labelled separately.
IrishTalents is not a licensed employment agency and does not select or submit candidates. Any agency information reflects the wording found on agency websites only, not vacancies, sponsorship, or suitability.
This is general information, not legal or immigration advice. IrishTalents is not affiliated with the Irish government.
