Companies That Received Irish Employment Permits: Official 2025 and 2026 Data

Last updated: 21 October 2026  |  Data: Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) employment permit statistics — full year 2025 and January to May 2026, the latest month published.

Which companies in Ireland actually obtain employment permits for non-EEA workers? The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) publishes the answer: a list of every employer issued with an employment permit, with the number issued each month. This guide ranks the employers that received the most permits in 2025 and in the first five months of 2026, explains what the figures do and do not show, and sets out how to check whether a company is hiring now. If you searched for “companies that sponsor work permits in Ireland”, this is the closest official evidence available — but it records permits already issued, not current vacancies.

Important: This is general information, not legal or immigration advice. QuickHireAlert is an independent publisher, not a recruiter or employer, and is not connected with any company named here. A company appearing in DETE’s list does not mean it is hiring now, that it will support a permit for any particular role, or that it will consider your application.

Quick Answer: Which Companies Received the Most Employment Permits?

In 2025, DETE issued 31,044 employment permits to 8,330 employers. The five employers with the most permits were:

• Google Ireland Limited: 368
• Ernst & Young: 278
• University Limerick Hospitals Group: 251
• Amazon Development Centre Ireland Limited: 245
• Redwood Extended Care Facility UC: 237

From January to May 2026 (the latest data published), 15,535 permits were issued to 4,921 employers. The top five were:

• Dawn Meats Ireland UC: 248
• Redwood Extended Care Facility Unlimited Company: 143
• Costern Unlimited Company: 127
• Google Ireland Limited: 125
• Rosderra Irish Meats Group UC: 116

Most employers appear only a handful of times: 4,742 of the 8,330 employers on the 2025 list (57%) received a single permit. Names are shown exactly as DETE publishes them, which is usually the registered company name.

What This Data Measures

DETE publishes its company listings alongside its other employment permit statistics. For the current year, DETE says the list “details companies issued with permits from the beginning of the year up until the last day of the previous month” (see the 2026 statistics page).

For each employer, the file shows:

• the employer’s name, as recorded on the permit;
• the number of permits issued to that employer in each month; and
• a total for the period.

The company file does not show:

• job titles, occupations or salaries;
• the type of permit (for example Critical Skills or General Employment Permit), or whether a permit was new or a renewal;
• applications that were refused or withdrawn, or how many people applied;
• the employer’s sector or the county where the job is based; or
• whether the employer is recruiting now.

Reporting Period

Refusal totals come from DETE’s nationality and county tables; the company file lists issued permits only. The 2026 files were uploaded in June 2026 and cover January to May. We will update this guide when DETE publishes later months.

Top 50 Employers by Employment Permits Issued in 2025

The January–May 2026 column matches names exactly, ignoring only capitalisation, punctuation and “Ltd”/“Limited”. A dash means no permit was recorded under that name in those months; it does not mean the employer has stopped hiring. The full 2025 list of 8,330 employers is in DETE’s 2025 company file.

The Latest Data: Top 20 Employers, January to May 2026

Monthly figures show how uneven permit numbers can be. Several meat processors, for example, received most of their 2026 permits in April and May, which may reflect seasonal or one-off recruitment rather than a steady pattern.

Companies That Appear Under Several Names

Large organisations often operate through more than one registered company, and each one appears separately in DETE’s list. The table below groups some well-known examples by name. This grouping is our own editorial illustration, not a DETE figure, and it may not capture every related company.

Public hospitals are also listed individually rather than under the HSE as a whole. Employers with “hospital” in their name (public and private) accounted for 1,696 permits across 109 listings in 2025, and 694 across 68 listings from January to May 2026.

Which Sectors Received the Most Permits?

The company file does not include sectors, but DETE publishes a separate table of permits by sector. Health and social work was by far the largest sector in both periods.

Sector refers to the employer’s business activity, not the worker’s job. An IT specialist hired by a hospital, for example, counts under health and social work.

Where the Permits Were Issued

Dublin accounted for almost half of all permits in 2025. Full county tables are on DETE’s 2025 and 2026 statistics pages.

Most Employers Received Only a Few Permits

The rankings above are dominated by large employers, but they are the exception. In 2025, 4,742 employers (57%) received one permit and only 20 received 100 or more. From January to May 2026, 3,076 of 4,921 employers (63%) received one permit and 8 received 100 or more. The 2025 list includes, for example, 157 employers with “restaurant” in their name and 196 with “farm”, most of which received one or two permits, so a company does not need to be a household name to hire through the permit system.

What a Recorded Permit Does and Does Not Prove

A company’s appearance in DETE’s list shows that at least one employment permit was issued for a job with that employer during the period. It does not show that:

• the company is recruiting now, or has vacancies suitable for overseas applicants;
• it supports permits for every role, or for roles below the relevant salary threshold;
• it will consider applicants who need a permit for a particular job; or
• anyone can “buy” or arrange a permit through that company. Be wary of anyone offering a job in exchange for a fee.

How to Check Current Vacancies

1. Go to the employer’s own careers page. Large employers publish current roles directly, often with location and visa information.
2. Search official job boards. JobsIreland is the State’s public employment service; public-sector roles are advertised on publicjobs.ie and HSE roles on HSE Jobs.
3. Ask about permit support for the specific role. Whether a vacancy can be filled through an employment permit depends on the occupation, salary and other conditions, so confirm before you apply.
4. Check the employer is genuine. Compare the details with the employer’s official website and never pay a recruiter or “agent” for a job offer.

Eligibility Depends on the Role, the Employer and You

An employment permit is granted for a specific job with a specific employer, so being on DETE’s list is only part of the picture. The two main permit types are:

• Critical Skills Employment Permit: DETE sets a minimum annual remuneration of €40,904 for degree-level occupations on the Critical Skills Occupations List, or over €68,911 for other occupations not on the Ineligible List. DETE says a Labour Market Needs Test is not required.
• General Employment Permit: DETE says the minimum is generally €36,605, with €32,691 for horticulture workers, meat processor operatives, healthcare assistants and home support workers. A Labour Market Needs Test is required in most cases. Some General Employment Permit occupations are also capped by quotas. For example, S.I. No. 213 of 2026 sets a maximum of 1,495 permits for care workers or home carers for the period starting 13 May 2026.

Permits are not granted for occupations on the Ineligible List of Occupations. Your qualifications, experience and immigration history also matter. For full details, see our guides to the Critical Skills Employment Permit, the General Employment Permit and the Critical Skills Occupations List.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a company on this list have to sponsor me? No. The list records permits that were issued in the past. Employers decide which vacancies they will support with a permit, and each application is assessed on its own facts.

Is this a list of companies that sponsor visas? It is a list of employers that were issued employment permits. An employment permit is different from a visa: depending on your nationality, you may also need an entry visa, and you will usually need to register your immigration permission after arriving.

How often is the data updated? DETE says the current-year company list covers permits issued from the start of the year to the end of the previous month. At the time of writing, the latest 2026 data published covers January to May 2026.

Why does a well-known company show only a few permits? Large groups often hire through several registered companies, and many of their staff may not need permits at all. A low count is not evidence that a company never hires overseas workers.

Where can I see the full list? DETE’s company files are on its 2025 and 2026 employment permit statistics pages.

Related Guides

• Jobs in Ireland With Visa Sponsorship
• Critical Skills Employment Permit Ireland
• General Employment Permit Ireland
• Ireland Occupation Shortage List
• Ireland Work Permit Processing Time
• Jobs in Ireland for Foreigners

Official Sources

• DETE: Employment permit statistics 2025 (company, nationality, county and sector tables; files dated 8 January 2026)
• DETE: Employment permit statistics 2026 (January to May 2026; files dated 11 June 2026)
• DETE: Employment permit statistical tables and company listings (all years)
• DETE: Critical Skills Employment Permit and General Employment Permit
• DETE: Critical Skills Occupations List and Ineligible List of Occupations