On 2 December 2025 the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) published a new roadmap for the Minimum Annual Remuneration (MAR) thresholds that underpin Ireland's employment permits. The first increase took effect on 1 March 2026, and for many of the clients we work with it changes the numbers on the offer letter. Here is our plain-English guide to what actually changed and how to prepare.
The headline figures
The MAR is simply the lowest annual salary an employer can pay a non-EEA worker for a given permit. From 1 March 2026:
- General Employment Permit (GEP): rose from €34,000 to €36,605
- Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP): the strategic-occupation threshold rose from €38,000 to €40,904
- Lower-threshold roles (meat processing operatives, horticultural workers, healthcare assistants and home support workers): rose from €30,000 to €32,691
These were increases of roughly 7.7% for the main permits and about 9% for the lower-threshold roles. Importantly, they are noticeably smaller than the jumps floated under the earlier 2023 plan, which had pointed to rises closer to 15%.
Why the approach changed
DETE reviewed the thresholds after receiving more than 150 submissions to a public consultation. Employers were candid about cost pressures and about the impact on permit renewals, and the Government responded by spreading the increases gradually out to 2030 rather than front-loading them by 2026.
Minister Peter Burke framed it as protecting Ireland's competitiveness in attracting skills, particularly in healthcare and construction, and said the phased timetable would give sectors sufficient time to prepare. Minister Alan Dillon added that economic migration plays a vital role in our economy and society. For our clients, the practical message is reassurance: the changes are real, but they are being introduced at a manageable pace.
Thresholds are now indexed
One quieter but significant change is that thresholds are increasingly tied to average earnings, drawing on CSO data. Over the last five years, average annual earnings growth has run at roughly 4.9%, and that indexation logic now informs how the MAR moves. In other words, we should all expect modest, regular upward drift rather than sudden shocks. The very low sub-standard thresholds that have applied in healthcare and agri-food are due to be phased out by 2030.
Who is protected from the increases
A few groups get softer treatment, and it is worth checking whether you qualify:
- Recent graduates: lower starting thresholds continue to apply where the applicant holds a relevant Irish Level 8 (or higher) qualification awarded in the previous 12 months.
- Public-sector Critical Skills roles covered by national pay agreements, along with linked community and voluntary organisations, are treated separately.
What this means in practice
If you are an employer preparing an offer, or a professional weighing a move to Ireland, our advice is straightforward:
- Check the salary against the current threshold before the application, not after. An offer that sat comfortably above the old figure may now sit close to the line.
- Budget for renewals, not just first applications. A permit renewed in 2027 or 2028 will be measured against the threshold in force then, not the one when it was first granted.
- Look at total qualifying remuneration. Basic salary must at least meet the National Minimum Wage, and certain qualifying health-insurance contributions can count towards the MAR.
- Mind the graduate window. If a candidate qualifies for the reduced graduate threshold, timing the application within that 12-month window can make a real difference.
Our take
We see this roadmap as broadly good news. It removes a lot of the uncertainty that had been hanging over renewals, and the gentler slope to 2030 is far easier to plan around than a single steep rise. The key is simply to stop treating a salary figure as fixed for the life of a permit. We now build a small annual uplift into every plan we prepare, so that when a renewal comes due, the salary already clears the line. If you are unsure how the new figures affect a specific role, that is exactly the kind of question we are here to answer.