Health and social work is the largest user of Irish employment permits and the sector the Government has singled out for reform of the 50:50 rule. Two routes matter for a Filipino workforce: healthcare assistants on the General Employment Permit, with a qualification condition at renewal, and registered nurses through NMBI and the Critical Skills permit, with family rights that the GEP does not give. This page sets out both, with the figures.
Healthcare assistants (SOC 6141) are not on the Ineligible List and need no quota; care workers and home carers (6145) have a quota of 1,495 from May 2026. Both use the General Employment Permit at the sub-standard rate of €32,691 basic pay (€16.12 an hour on 39 hours) after the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, and the renewal carries a condition: the holder should have attained a relevant QQI Level 5 qualification after two years' employment in the State, or hold a comparable qualification with a clinical lead's certification of competence. We plan the QQI Level 5 course into the first two years rather than discovering the condition at renewal. The 50:50 rule applies at company level; the Government approved proposals in May 2026 to amend it for health and social care because nursing homes, disability services and home care were hitting the ceiling — until a Bill passes, the rule stands and programmes are sized to it.
A Filipino nurse works as a nurse in Ireland only after registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. NMBI assesses the BSN and PRC licence and imposes a compensation measure — an adaptation period of at least six to twelve weeks in an approved setting, or the aptitude test run by RCSI (available only for the general division) — and requires English at IELTS 7.0 overall with 7.0 in three components and 6.5 in one, or OET grade B in three components and C+ in one, from a single sitting less than two years old; the Philippines is not among the countries exempt from the English test. NMBI puts recognition and registration at about eighteen months on average. With the decision letter, the employer applies for a Critical Skills Employment Permit (€40,904 with a degree; HSE and other public roles on national pay agreements are exempt from the threshold), and the nurse may bring the family immediately, without an income test, and apply for Stamp 4 after two years. Many providers recruit the same nurses as healthcare assistants first — lawful, at the HCA rate, with the registration pathway written into the offer.
The permit decides family life as well as work. Critical Skills permit holders may bring their nuclear family immediately with no income test; General Employment Permit holders may apply after twelve months in the State and must meet an income test under the Family Reunification Policy of 12 June 2026 — above €30,000 gross for a spouse, and for children a net income above Working Family Payment levels, which for one child corresponds to roughly €50,200 gross. A tradesman at €36,605 can bring a spouse after a year and, in practice, not his children; we say so in Manila before anyone signs.
For a healthcare assistant the family rules of the General Employment Permit apply in full; for a registered nurse on the Critical Skills permit they do not. The difference — and the eighteen months of registration between them — is the central briefing point for every Filipino nurse considering Ireland.
Healthcare assistants: four to six months from brief to arrival on the standard sequence, with the QQI Level 5 plan attached. Nurses: NMBI file at selection, English test scheduled, adaptation or aptitude route chosen with the employer, registration in twelve to eighteen months, then the Critical Skills permit (decided within about a week at DETE in October 2026) and the visa. Nurses recruited first as healthcare assistants arrive on the GEP timeline and convert after registration.
The General Employment Permit is the route for almost every trade and operative role: minimum annual remuneration of €36,605 from 1 March 2026 (basic pay on a 39-hour week, €18.05 an hour; the sub-standard rate of €32,691 applies only to healthcare assistants and home-support workers, meat processing operatives and horticulture workers), a permit fee of €1,000 for up to two years refunded at 90 % if refused, a first permit of two years renewable for three, and an application filed at least twelve weeks before the start date. Before filing, the Labour Market Needs Test: the vacancy advertised for 28 continuous days on JobsIreland (and through it EURES) and for 28 days on one other online platform, stating the job, the employer, the location, the hours and the minimum annual remuneration, with the application lodged within 90 days of the first publication. At company level at least half of the employees must be EEA nationals — the 50:50 rule — with exceptions for start-ups supported by Enterprise Ireland or IDA and for a sole employee; the Government approved proposals in May 2026 to amend the rule for health and social care, not yet law.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in London, which covers the United Kingdom and Ireland, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no applicant pays for an interview, a trade test or a place on a shortlist. Your company is the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.
Everything here is subject to the Employment Permits Act 2024 and regulations, the occupations lists in force (S.I. 213/2026), DETE and ISD practice, Irish employment law and Philippine DMW rules.
Only after NMBI registration — adaptation period or RCSI aptitude test plus IELTS 7.0 or OET B — which takes about eighteen months on average. Until then the lawful role is healthcare assistant on the General Employment Permit.
No quota for healthcare assistants (6141); care workers and home carers (6145) have a quota of 1,495 from May 2026. Both pay at least €32,691.
At renewal after two years, the healthcare assistant should hold a relevant QQI Level 5 qualification, or a comparable qualification with a clinical lead's certification. We schedule the course in year one or two.
Not yet. The Government approved drafting amendments for health and social care on 28 May 2026; until legislation passes, at least half of employees must be EEA nationals at application.
On the Critical Skills permit, immediately and without an income test. Healthcare assistants on the General Employment Permit wait twelve months and face the income test of the June 2026 policy.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.