Construction Work Permits in Ireland: What Skilled Tradespeople Need to Know

If you're a bricklayer, carpenter, painter, plasterer, floor layer, glazier, or any other skilled tradesperson looking at a job offer in Ireland, there is a detail that trips up more people than almost anything else in the whole process: the salary on your contract might look fine against the general work permit rules, and still be wrong — because construction has its own separate pay rules on top.

The Two Numbers That Both Have to Be Met

To get a General Employment Permit, your salary needs to meet the government's general minimum for that permit type. But if your trade falls inside the construction sector, there is a second, separate minimum that also applies: the Sectoral Employment Order (SEO), a legally binding pay scale set by the Labour Court specifically for construction workers.

Your employer has to pay whichever of the two numbers is higher. Meeting the general work permit salary is not enough on its own if your trade sits inside the construction SEO and its rate for your classification is higher.

The Construction Pay Scale, Explained Simply

The construction SEO doesn't set one single rate for everyone. It sorts workers into categories, and each has its own minimum hourly rate:

Category	Who It Covers	Current Minimum Rate
Craftsperson	Bricklayers/Stone Layers, Carpenters and Joiners, Floor Layers, Glaziers, Painters, Plasterers, Stone Cutters, Wood Machinists, Slaters and Tilers	€23.00/hr
Category A Worker	Scaffolders with Advanced Card + 4yrs experience, Bank Operatives, Steel Fixers, Crane Drivers, Heavy Machine Operators	€22.32/hr
Category B Worker	Skilled General Operatives with more than 2 years in the sector	€20.71/hr
Apprentice (Years 1–4)	Registered apprentices in a recognised trade	33%–90% of Craftsperson rate
New Entrant Operative	Workers over 18 entering the construction sector for the very first time — first 2 years only	€16.74/hr

These rates increase periodically (most recently August 2025, a further increase scheduled for August 2026). Always check the current figure directly with the Workplace Relations Commission rather than relying on a figure from a year ago.

The Mistake That Sends Contracts Back

Here is the part worth reading carefully, especially if you already have real trade experience.

"New Entrant" does not mean new to Ireland. It means new to the construction sector itself — someone doing this kind of work for the very first time in their working life. It exists to give a lower, temporary starting rate to people genuinely starting out in the trade, for their first two years.

If you are an experienced carpenter, bricklayer, or painter with ten or fifteen years behind you, and you are moving to Ireland to continue that same trade, you are not a New Entrant — even though you're new to the Irish market. You fall under the Craftsperson category, at the full craft rate, not the lower starting rate.

This matters because it comes up constantly in practice. An employer advertises for "an experienced carpenter" — someone with real skills who can run their own section of a job without supervision. To get a General Employment Permit at all, the worker has to show they genuinely have the qualifications, skills, and experience the role requires. If the contract pays the New Entrant rate while the rest of the application relies on genuine trade experience to qualify, that's a direct contradiction — and in my own experience, it's exactly the kind of thing that gets a contract sent back before the permit can move forward.

I want to be clear about what I know here. The official guidance doesn't spell out in writing that DETE cross-checks a construction contract against the specific SEO rate for the worker's classification. But in practice, in cases I've handled directly, that's exactly what's happened — twice, with contracts rejected specifically because the salary didn't match the sectoral rate, needing to be corrected before the application could proceed. Every case is assessed individually, but it's a real, recurring pattern, not a theoretical risk.

How to Check If Your Offer Is Actually Right

Look at what the job advertisement itself says. If it describes the role as needing real skill, independent judgement, or years of experience, that's already a strong sign the role should be classified as Craftsperson or Category A, not New Entrant.

Look at your own CV and work history. If you're applying with genuine trade experience and being hired specifically because of it, the New Entrant rate does not apply to you, regardless of how new you are to Ireland itself.

Compare what's actually being offered against the current rate for your real classification, not the lowest number on the scale. If there's a mismatch between the experience the job advertisement asked for and the rate you're being offered, that mismatch is worth raising before you sign anything, not after.

What People Get Wrong

Assuming "New Entrant" applies to anyone new to Ireland. It applies to anyone new to the trade itself — which is a different thing entirely.

Assuming the general work permit salary is the only number that matters. If your trade sits inside the construction SEO, its rate can be higher, and that's the one that legally applies.

Comparing your contract only to the lowest number on the pay scale instead of to the classification that actually matches your real skill and experience.

Assuming these rates are fixed. They increase periodically, and an old figure can already be out of date.

Quick Answers

I'm a bricklayer with ten years of experience, moving to Ireland for the first time. What rate should I be paid?
The Craftsperson rate — the same one paid to any bricklayer with that classification, regardless of how long you've lived in Ireland.

What if my employer says the New Entrant rate applies because I'm new to the country?
That's not how the classification works. New Entrant means new to the trade itself. If you're applying with real trade experience, being classified as New Entrant contradicts the experience your own application needs to show.

Does this affect my employment permit application, or just my pay?
In my own experience handling these cases, it can affect both. I've had contracts sent back specifically because the salary didn't match the sectoral rate for the worker's real classification, and the application couldn't proceed until it was corrected.