Before most General Employment Permit applications, the employer must prove no suitable candidate was available in Ireland or the EEA. That proof is the Labour Market Needs Test, and it is procedural: get the mechanics wrong and the permit application fails, with no way to fix the test retrospectively.
The two advertising legs
- Leg 1: advertise the job on JobsIreland.ie (which shares it with the EURES network) for at least 28 consecutive days.
- Leg 2: advertise it on at least one other online platform, also for 28 consecutive days. The old newspaper requirement is gone.
What every ad must state
- A description of the employment
- The employer's name
- The minimum annual remuneration (which must match what you actually offer)
- The location or locations of the work
- The hours of work
The rules that trip employers up
- Do not edit or extend a running ad. Amending mid-run restarts the clock; the 28 days must be continuous and identical.
- Watch the window. The permit application must be submitted within 90 days of the first day of advertising (120 days for third-level institutions). Miss it and you advertise all over again.
- Keep the evidence. Copies of the ads themselves, with dates and the JobsIreland reference, are what goes into the application.
When no test is needed
Critical Skills occupations are exempt, as are roles paying €68,911 or more, certain agency-waiver cases, and permit holders changing employer under the 2024 Act's rules. Checking exemptions first can save two months.
Where JobsMatch fits
A JobsMatch listing is built to satisfy the mechanics of an online advertising leg: the mandatory content is enforced before publishing, a 28-day lock prevents edits, and the case tracker keeps day counters, deadline reminders and evidence of the run. Posting on JobsIreland remains something you do in the government system, and the permit application is always yours. Talk to us if you are planning an international hire; we track these rules for a living.
Figures quoted are effective 1 March 2026 and were verified in September 2026. General information from published official sources, not legal advice.