Ireland
Dublin · Northern Europe
An English-speaking EU member outside the Schengen area, with a large multinational employer base and an acute housing shortage that is the single biggest practical obstacle to moving there. It has no remote-worker visa.
- European Union
- Eurozone
- Common Travel Area
- Capital
- Dublin
- Currency
- EUR €
- Language
- Irish
- Population
- 5.4M
- Long-stay routes
- 3
- Route to permanent residence
- Yes
- Unemployment
- 4.4%
- Drives on the
- Left
Euro
2 recognised
2024 estimate
Soonest, 5 years
2025, indicative
+353
Entry and short stays
What your passport allows before any long-stay permission is involved.
Reading your passport selection…
Can I live here?
Every long-stay route this country publishes, checked against what you tell us. The checking happens in your browser.
About you
Stored in this browser only. Never sent anywhere.
Before tax, in the currency you earn.
Reading your answers…
Nothing here is an approval, and nothing here is advice. Only the authority deciding your application can tell you the answer, and it will weigh things this tool does not model.
Long-stay routes
Stored as structured records, so the same data drives the checks above, the comparison view and the checklists.
Critical Skills Employment Permit
EmploymentThe premium work route, for occupations on the critical skills list. It allows family to join immediately and leads to unrestricted permission after two years rather than five.
- Income needed
- €38,000 a year
- Leads to settlement
- After 5 years
Stamp 0 — persons of independent means
Retirement and passive incomeA low-permission status for financially independent people. It is deliberately restrictive: no work, no access to public services, renewed annually, and it does not count towards citizenship.
- Income needed
- €50,000 a year
- Leads to settlement
- No
EU, EEA, Swiss and UK rights
Freedom of movementEU, EEA and Swiss citizens exercise free movement. British citizens have equivalent rights under the Common Travel Area, independent of EU law.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- After 5 years
Cost of living
An estimate you can shape. It is not survey data and it is not a quote.
| Category | Monthly range |
|---|---|
| Housing | €1,300 – €2,200 |
| Food | €320 – €520 |
| Utilities | €160 – €300 |
| Internet | €40 – €65 |
| Transport | €60 – €160 |
| Healthcare | €50 – €200 |
| Everything else | €250 – €500 |
| Total | €2,180 – €3,945 |
| Suggested monthly buffer | €4,734 |
Modelled from a baseline for one adult and scaled, not sampled from households. Figures are shown as ranges because that is the honest shape of the data.
Worth knowing. Modelled estimate. Housing is the dominant cost and supply is the binding constraint — budget more time and money for it than the numbers alone suggest.
Housing
No nationality restriction on buying property. Non-resident mortgage lending is limited, and a substantially higher stamp duty rate applies to bulk purchases of houses.
What landlords usually ask for
- Employer reference and proof of income
- Previous landlord references
- PPS number for most services
Daft.ie (opens in a new tab)MyHome.ie (opens in a new tab)
Worth knowing. Market conventions in an exceptionally tight market.
Healthcare
A public system with means-tested entitlements rather than universal free care: most residents pay for GP visits unless they hold a medical card. Private insurance is widely held to reduce waiting times.
- If you live there
- Ordinary residence gives access to public hospital services at subsidised rates. GP care is generally charged unless a medical card or GP visit card applies.
- If you are visiting
- EU, EEA and Swiss visitors use the European Health Insurance Card; others should hold travel insurance.
Tax
- Tax residency threshold
- 183 days
- Taxes worldwide income
- Yes, for residents
- Income tax range
- 20% – 40%
- VAT or sales tax
- 23%
Resident if present 183 days in a tax year, or 280 days across two consecutive years with at least 30 in each.
Remote workers. Ireland has no remote-worker permission. Non-EEA nationals wanting to base themselves in Ireland while working for a foreign employer have no route designed for it.
Social insurance. PRSI is paid by employees, employers and the self-employed. The Universal Social Charge is levied separately on most income and materially raises the effective rate.
Capital gains. A flat capital gains rate applies above a small annual exemption.
Special regimes
Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP)
Relief on a portion of employment income for qualifying employees assigned to Ireland by a foreign employer, subject to conditions and a minimum salary.
Worth knowing. Orientation only. The Universal Social Charge means headline income tax rates understate the total.
Work and the labour market
Conditions in the labour market, which is a different claim from how many jobs are open right now. This product does not pretend to know the second from static data.
- Unemployment
- 4.4%
- Youth unemployment
- 12%
- Average earnings
- €4,200 / mo
- Minimum wage
- €2,280 / mo
Worth knowing. Irish GDP per capita is heavily distorted by multinational accounting and is not a meaningful measure of local living standards. Modified gross national income is the measure Irish statisticians use instead.
Sectors
- TechnologystableEuropean headquarters for many large US technology firms.
- Pharmaceuticals and medical devicesgrowingA major export sector with sustained hiring.
- ConstructiongrowingAcute shortage, driven by the housing deficit.
Cities
A country-wide average hides a lot. Where we have city data, use it instead.
Dublin
The centre of the multinational economy, hosting the European headquarters of many US technology and pharmaceutical companies. Rental supply is severely constrained and finding somewhere to live is harder than finding work.
One adult, monthly: €2,700 – €3,900
Sources
Every claim on this page traces to one of these. If something here matters to a decision you are making, read it there.
Authorities for Ireland
- Irish Immigration — visas, permissions and registration (opens in a new tab)Department of Justice — Immigration Service Delivery · National immigration authority