Ireland is a small but highly globalized, open economy that serves as a major hub for multinational investment and U.S. companies. It is an attractive location due to its strong talent pool, English‑speaking workforce, and access to the EU single market.
Companies must first register with Companies Registration Office (CRO) to conduct business in Ireland.
Most private corporate entities must have one secretary and a minimum of two directors, one of which can be the secretary. If none of the directors reside in a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA), a non-EEA director bond may be required.
After obtaining a CRO number, companies must register with Revenue for payment of corporate taxes and employer Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) if the company hires employees.
Irish Revenue does not explicitly require that employers hold an Irish-domiciled bank account to pay taxes. Revenue accepts electronic payments; however, Revenue Online Services (ROS) systems are optimized for Irish IBANs and therefore many companies find that an Irish bank account is easier to manage payments in practice.
Beginning January 1, 2026, the following minimum wage rates apply:
|
Category of Employee |
Hourly Rate |
|
Ages 20+ (National Minimum Wage) |
€14.15 |
|
Age 19 |
€12.74 |
|
Age 18 |
€11.32 |
|
Under 18 years of age |
€9.91 |
PRSI is a contribution made by companies and their employees. The value of this payment is based on the amount of the employee's pay. PRSI is the main source of funding for social welfare payments in Ireland.
There is no legal requirement for pay frequency but, for salaried employees, monthly (12) is the most common. For hourly employees, weekly (52) and bi-weekly (26) are typical.
Employers are not required to pay overtime; however, an employee’s average wage for total hours worked must not fall below the minimum wage. The maximum number of hours that an employee could work in an average week is 48 hours, with the working week average calculated over a 4-month period depending on the sector or any collective agreement.
The Ireland tax year runs from January 1 to December 31. Companies must file with Revenue and manage PAYE to file taxes and PRSI contributions throughout the year. Payroll submissions are made each pay period in real time, while payment of liabilities is generally monthly or quarterly depending on employer size.
Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) numbers must be requested for each employee before payroll can be run. Required employee deductions include:
Employers must also contribute to PRSI. Contribution rates vary and range from 9% to 11.25% depending on employee classification and weekly wage.
Payroll must be submitted electronically, either using payroll software or online using Revenue Online Services (ROS).
There is no longer an obligation on employers to provide a statement of the employee’s pay, tax, USC, and PRSI (Form P60) to employees at the end of the year. For income tax years ending December 31, 2019, and forward, Revenue makes end-of-year statements available to all employees. This statement shows details of the employee’s pay, tax, USC, and PRSI for the preceding year and replaces the Form P60.
Employees are entitled to 26 weeks of maternity leave and an additional 16 weeks of unpaid leave. Leave must begin at least two weeks before the due date. Paternity leave is two consecutive weeks that must be taken within the first six months of a child’s birth or adoption.
In addition to maternity and paternity leave, other family leave includes:
Parental Leave up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave for each parent to take care of a child under the age of 12. Leave may be taken continuously or in blocks of at least six weeks.
Parents Leave up to 9 weeks of paid leave for each parent to be used within the first two years of birth or adoption. Parents can take the leave one week at a time or in a block of more than one week until they use their leave entitlement.
Statutory payments, where applicable, are administered by the Department of Social Protection, subject to eligibility.
All employees, whether full-time, part-time, temporary or casual, earn annual leave entitlements from the time they start work. Most employees are entitled to four weeks of paid annual leave per leave year.
As of January 1, 2026, employees remain entitled to five days of sick leave per year after they have completed 13 weeks of continuous service with an employer. The maximum amount of leave payable to an employee is the lesser of €110, or 70% of their usual daily wage, per day.
The State Pension Age in Ireland is currently 66 and as of January 1, 2026, Ireland has implemented an auto-enrollment, nation-wide pension scheme to be administered by the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA).
This plan is for employees who do not currently have a workplace pension in place. Employer contributions begin at 1.5% of an employee’s gross earnings up to a cap of €80,000 and will increase on a phased basis over time.
Employers must give employees, who have been in continuous service, notice depending on the length of the employee’s service:
|
Length of Service |
Minimum Notice Period |
|
Thirteen weeks to two years |
One week |
|
Two to five years |
Two weeks |
|
Five to ten years |
Four weeks |
|
Ten to fifteen years |
Six weeks |
| More than fifteen years | Eight weeks |
Any employee over age 16, with 104 weeks of continuous service with an employer, is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment. The statutory payment is two weeks of gross pay per year of service, up to a maximum of €600 per week, plus one week of bonus pay, which is also subject to the €600 maximum.
Employers must also pay out any accrued holiday leave.
In Ireland there are ten public holidays each year. For each of these days, employees are entitled to one of the following (decision to be made by employer):
For more information about public holidays, please visit the Workplace Relations Commission.
Is Ireland in your hiring or expansion plans? Paylocity can help. Our cloud-based platform helps you navigate the waters of international payroll.
And don’t sweat complicated compliance — our hybrid service model includes a U.S.-based team and in-country experts in Ireland to help when you have questions.
Want to learn more? Request a demo today!
The above information was last updated January 26, 2026. It is not intended as legal or tax advice.