Key takeaways for employers

Here’s what you need to know about the changes that took effect on 22 May 2026:

• Four new roles have been added to the Critical Skills Occupations List, including optometrists, IP professionals, geospatial surveyors, and riggers in the games industry, making it easier to attract non-EEA nationals for these positions with benefits like immediate family reunification.
• Five occupations have been removed from the Ineligible List of Occupations (including pharmaceutical technicians, dental technicians, and forestry workers), and new exceptions have been carved out for specific roles in construction, fishing, and textiles.
• New quotas apply to certain roles: 50 permits for fish filleters, 100 for seafood operatives, 1,000 for motor mechanics, and 1,495 for care workers.
• Remember to check your roles against the increased minimum annual remuneration thresholds that took effect on 1 March 2026 - critical skills employment permits now require €40,904 (with a degree) or €68,911 (without), and general employment permits now require €36,605.

What’s changed?

In practical terms, the Regulations add occupations to the Critical Skills Occupations List, remove occupations from the Ineligible List, and update the list of regulated professions requiring registration or qualification recognition. The Regulations also update quotas for general employment permits in certain occupations.

Additions to the Critical Skills Occupations List

The Critical Skills Occupations List identifies occupations where there is a shortage of the qualifications, experience, or skills needed within the Irish economy. Being on this list allows employers to recruit non-EEA nationals through the critical skills employment permit, which offers significant advantages over the general employment permit such as immediate family reunification and a faster pathway to Stamp 4 status in Ireland.

The 2026 Regulations add four new entries to the Critical Skills Occupations List:

• Optometrist / Ophthalmic Optician (Community Eye Care)
• Intellectual Property Professionals
• Geospatial Surveyor / Land Surveyor / Geomatics Surveyor
• Riggers (within the Games Industry)

Several new sub-entries have also been added within existing occupation codes:

• Agronomist (under SOC 2112)
• Meteorologist and Operational Forecaster (under SOC 2113)
• Cardiac Physiologist and Respiratory Physiologist (under SOC 2217)
• Construction Planner and Construction Scheduler (under SOC 2436)

Removals from the Ineligible List of Occupations

The Ineligible List of Occupations sets out occupations for which an employment permit will not be granted. Removing an occupation from this list makes it eligible for a general employment permit, provided all other requirements are met.

Five occupations have been removed entirely from the Ineligible List:

• Pharmaceutical Technicians
• Dental Technicians
• Printers
• Textile Process Operatives
• Forestry Workers

The Regulations also carve out new exceptions within occupation codes that remain on the Ineligible List. This means that while the broader occupation category remains ineligible, specific roles within it are now open to employment permit applications:

• Sea fishers in the Irish fishing fleet and speciality forestry harvesting technicians (SOC 5119)
• Lineworkers working on behalf of ESB Networks (SOC 5249)
• Plastic Lining Technicians, Steel Fixers, Fencing Operators/Erectors and Curtain Wallers (SOC 5319)
• Fish Filleters (SOC 5433)
• Seafood Operatives (SOC 8111)
• Industrial Machine Knitters (SOC 8137)
• Concrete Pump Operators (SOC 8229)

It is worth noting that, although fish filleters and seafood operatives have been removed from the Ineligible List, they are subject to quotas, specifically, 50 permits for fish filleters and 100 permits for seafood operatives.

A sector-by-sector view

While the employment permit changes in 2023 were notable for their breadth, these amendments are more targeted. They show the Irish Government is responding to specific, evidence-based skills gaps across a range of sectors.

Health

The addition of optometrist / ophthalmic optician (community eye care) to the Critical Skills Occupations List, alongside the new sub-entries for cardiac physiologist and respiratory physiologist, reflects ongoing recruitment challenges in health professions. These roles are critical to delivering frontline community and acute care services.

The removal of pharmaceutical technicians and dental technicians from the Ineligible List further broadens the pool of health-related occupations that can be filled through the employment permit system.

These changes sit within a broader context. As we noted in our article on what to expect in Irish immigration law in 2026, the healthcare sector uses the employment permit system more than any other sector. The Government has acknowledged that recruitment and retention in the health sector remains a significant challenge, and these targeted additions will be welcome news for healthcare providers seeking to fill specialist vacancies.

Games industry

The addition of riggers within the games industry is a targeted intervention to support Ireland's growing digital entertainment and animation sector. Rigging is the process of creating the digital skeleton that allows 3D characters and objects to move and is a highly specialised technical skill. Ireland has a well-established animation and games ecosystem which this addition will help studios to compete globally for niche technical talent.

Construction

The construction sector continues to benefit from successive rounds of occupations list reforms. The addition of construction planner and construction scheduler to the Critical Skills Occupations List, alongside geospatial surveyor / land surveyor / geomatics surveyor, addresses planning and project management bottlenecks that have constrained housing and infrastructure delivery in Ireland. These roles sit upstream in the construction process, and shortages in these areas have a cascading effect on project timelines.

On the Ineligible List side, the new exceptions for plastic lining technicians, steel fixers, fencing operators/erectors, curtain wallers, and concrete pump operators reflect a continued effort to open specific skilled trades within the construction sector to non-EEA recruitment.

Legal

The inclusion of intellectual property professionals on the Critical Skills Occupations List is notable. To our knowledge, it is the first time a legal profession-adjacent role has been added to the list. This likely reflects Ireland's growing importance as a European hub for technology, pharmaceutical, and life sciences companies, where intellectual property expertise is essential. It signals that the Government recognises the specialised nature of IP work and the difficulty in sourcing these skills domestically.

Agriculture and forestry

The addition of agronomist as a sub-entry and resource modelling, earth observation and data analyst roles points to a growing emphasis on the scientific and data-driven dimensions of agriculture and forestry. Coupled with the removal of forestry workers from the Ineligible List and new exceptions for speciality forestry harvesting technicians, these changes suggest a recognition that Ireland's agricultural and forestry sectors need access to a wider talent pool, from operational roles through to specialist analytical positions.

Meteorology

The addition of meteorologist and operational forecaster to the Critical Skills Occupations List is perhaps the most unexpected change from the Regulations. It likely reflects the increasing importance of meteorological expertise in the context of climate change adaptation, renewable energy planning, and extreme weather preparedness. These are highly specialised roles with a limited domestic talent pipeline, and their inclusion on the Critical Skills Occupations List will make it significantly easier for employers, particularly private sector energy companies to recruit internationally.

Other regulatory changes

Beyond the occupations lists, the Regulations introduce some other amendments that employers should be aware of.

Regulated professions

There are certain prescribed professions for which employment permit applicants must hold qualifications that are registered or recognised by a specified regulatory body.

The Regulations: has made the following amendments:

• Inserting Ophthalmic Optician alongside Optometrist, reflecting the addition of this role to the Critical Skills Occupations List. The designated regulatory body responsible for registration or recognition of qualifications remains the Optical Registration Board – CORU
• Adding Geospatial Surveyor / Land Surveyor / Geomatics Surveyor as a new entry, with the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland designated as the regulatory body responsible for registration or recognition of qualifications
• Substituting Town Planner with Town Planning Officer, and the Royal Town Planning Institute has been added alongside the Irish Planning Institute as a recognised regulatory body

These changes are important because they determine the professional registration or qualification recognition requirements that must be satisfied before an employment permit can be granted for the relevant role.

New quotas for employment permits

In addition to the new quotas for fish filleters (50 permits) and seafood operatives (100 permits), the Regulations update existing quotas across a range of occupations, including:

• Car mechanics / Motor mechanics / Auto electricians / Motor vehicle technicians (1,000 permits)
• Care workers or home carers (1,495 permits)
• Butchers / Boner (meat) (548 permits)

Quotas for certain occupations also appear to have been lifted, including those for dairy farm assistants, meat processing operatives, and bus and coach drivers.

What this means for employers

Employers in one of the affected sectors should review these changes carefully to assess whether they open new recruitment channels.

Employers in health, construction, agriculture, and forestry should assess whether newly eligible roles can help address persistent vacancies that have been difficult to fill through domestic recruitment.

Employers who have previously been unable to recruit for roles on the Ineligible List should check whether the recent removals or new exceptions apply to their specific needs. The exceptions are narrow, so it is important to assess whether the role falls within scope.

Bear in mind that these changes come against the backdrop of the increased minimum annual remuneration (MAR) thresholds that took effect on 1 March 2026. Remuneration packages for newly eligible roles should meet the applicable MAR threshold. For critical skills employment permits, that is now €40,904 (with a relevant degree) or €68,911 (without a relevant degree but with experience). For general employment permits, the threshold is at €36,605. Sub-standard MAR thresholds are also available for recent graduates for these permit types.

We will continue to monitor developments in this area. For further information or support in relation to these changes, or Irish immigration law generally, please contact Declan Groarke.