Ireland's body shops have used up every quota they were given: fifty body-repair permits filled in thirteen days in January 2025, fifty more added in April, a hundred renewed in May 2026. The Philippines trains panel beaters, paint technicians and mechanics for the Gulf's fleets and dealerships, and they fit the Irish craft benchmark. This page covers the quotas, the standard, and how we test them.
Vehicle body repair came off the Ineligible List with a quota of fifty in late 2024; it was filled by 13 January 2025, extended by fifty in April 2025 and renewed at 102 in May 2026, alongside 100 for paint technicians, 1,000 for car mechanics and technicians (the previous 200 having been used up by March 2026), 442 for HGV and bus mechanics and 400 for roadworthiness testers. Quota permits are processed in order of receipt and applications still in the queue when the quota fills are rejected; an employer who wants body-repair permits files in the first weeks of a window with the Labour Market Needs Test already done.
Ireland's own benchmark is the four-year apprenticeship leading to the QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate Craft in Vehicle Body Repairs; there is no statutory licence to practise body repair or mechanics. The Filipino candidates we present come from Gulf dealership and fleet body shops and from Philippine assembly and repair operations, with TESDA Automotive Servicing and Auto Body Repair certificates; at our Makati facilities they repair a damaged panel, pull and measure a structure, weld and bond to specification, prepare and refinish, or diagnose and service a vehicle to your job card, while your workshop manager watches live. Manufacturer-specific and ADAS calibration training is yours after arrival.
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.
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.
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.
No statutory licence; the craft benchmark is the QQI Level 6 apprenticeship. Roadworthiness testing and vehicle air-conditioning gas handling are the regulated exceptions.
Fast — fifty were used in thirteen days in January 2025. File early in the window with the Labour Market Needs Test complete.
Yes — 442 permits under the May 2026 quota at €36,605.
Yes — preparation, masking, mixing and refinishing to your process at Makati, assessed by your paint-shop lead live.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.