Welcome to our pages about Ireland,
we have put together some useful information about our beautiful country with some links at the end to other related sites.

Please click on any of the links below.

• Generalities
• Maps of Ireland, road map and county map
• Work conditions
• Salary deductions
• Working visas / work permits
• Transports to Ireland
• Transports within Ireland
• Embassies addresses
• Internet cafes
• Phone indicatives
• Currency converter
• Web sites of interest

Generalities

Situated west of England, the Republic of Ireland, also called Eire is formed of 26 counties for a total of close to 4 million people on an area of 70280 square km.

The biggest cities are:

• Dublin with 1.5 million people
• Cork with 125,000 people
• Limerick with 54,000 people
• And Galway with 70,000 people

The hotel and catering industry is taking a major role in the Irish economy, Ireland is attracting a increasing number of tourists due to the beauty of the whole Island, its remaining vestiges, the variety of its country side, surely the friendliness of its peoples and many more reasons.
Hotels, restaurants, pubs and caterers have reached the quality that the continent can offer and is meeting the tourists expectations, Ireland has developed its own cuisine and offers a reputable quality of hospitality.
In the Republic of Ireland, two languages are official, Gaelic and English, although Gaelic is still taught in schools, it is English that is spoken in every day life.

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Map of Ireland

Click here to view a map by county     Click here to view a road map

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Work conditions

Conditions may vary from one establishment to another, but employers are required to offer four weeks of holiday per year of employment, and there is ten days of bank or public holidays every year.

Wages are usually paid every week but may be fortnightly or monthly.

It is generally the case that employers in Ireland will not organise a work permit.  For more information regarding obtaining a work permit please refer to www.entemp.ie

For further information on work conditions you may refer to the department of enterprise, trade and employment at www.entemp.ie

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Salary deductions

-PRSI: The PRSI is your social coverage, you will receive a card after a few weeks working in Ireland giving you your prsi number which will be used if you need to go to the hospital, doctor…or as identification in some government offices such as the tax office.

-INCOME TAX: Taxes are deducted from pay, it is called “Pay As You Earn”, this is the only income tax, and unlike some other countries you won’t have to pay any tax at the end of your year.

It is very hard for any one to determine exactly how much tax you will have to pay, many different factors will come in to consideration such as your family situation (single, married), if you rent or own your accommodation, if you provide your uniforms or not…. The taxes are calculated from an annual wage and it is therefore impossible for a employer to provide you with a exact figure.

Within weeks of your arrival to work in to the country, the revenue commissioner will determine your "tax free allowance", meaning what part of your wages are not going to be subject to tax, once this is determined, you will then know your tax table.
You will be able to get more information on taxes on the revenue commissioner’s web site at: www.revenue.ie THERE IS NO OTHER GOVERNMENT DEDUCTIONS
 
The above working conditions and tax figure are for the Republic of Ireland only, for Northern Ireland, please refer to united kingdom conditions.

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Working visas

For the past few years, all EEA passport holders can freely work in any country of the European union, therefore, people coming from the following countries can work in Ireland without special permission: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom together with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

For those coming from any other countries, a working visa is required (except special cases, please visit the enterprise Ireland web site for more details).

How to apply for a visa:
Only employers can apply for a visa on behalf of a prospective employee, it is therefore imperative if you are a job seeker from outside the EU to find a employer first if you wish to obtain permission to work in Ireland.  Generally employers in Ireland will not organise a work permit therefore it is important that as a jobseeker you obtain a work permit yourself.

Obtaining a working visa can take up to several months and there is no guaranty that the visa will be granted.
Permits are usually issued for a period length of one month to one year with the possibility to apply for a renewal at the end of the first permit.

Criteria for a work permit to be granted:
Employers applying for a working visa on behalf of a prospective employee will generally be required to prove that it has not been possible in spite of reasonable effort being made to fill the vacancy with a Irish person or other person for whom a work permit is not required.

You will find much more information on work permits on the enterprise Ireland site at www.entemp.ie/lfd/workpermits.htm

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Transport to Ireland

Coming from the continent and the UK you may fly (the most important airports being Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Shannon) or bring your own vehicle by ferry mainly to Rosslare, Dublin or Belfast, in both cases your best option is to deal directly with your local travel agent to reserve seats or space.

Buses throughout Europe are also available and you may check the euro lines web site at: www.eurolines.com  

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Transport within Ireland

Although you may rent a car from any airport, cheaper and sometimes faster option (for someone that doesn’t know the country) is to go by bus or train, taxi services are also available in all cities at a reasonable cost.

You will find the time table for the buses at (+353) 1 836 6111 or on the web at: www.buseireann.ie

You will find the train’s table at (+353) 1 703 1842 or on the web at: www.irishrail.ie  

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Embassies addresses

This is a list of some of the embassies in Ireland (+353 from abroad):

-Australia: 15 Ailesbury court apts, 93 Ailesbury road, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 269 4577 / 01 269 1451

-Austria: 15 ailesbury court apts. 93 ailesbury road, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 269 4577 / 01 269 1451

-Belgium: 2 Shrewsbury road, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 269 2082 / 01 269 1588

-Canada: 4th floor, 65/68 st. Stephen’s green south, Dublin2                                 
                                  Tel: 01 478 1988

-Denmark: 121/122 st. stephens green west, Dublin 2
                                 Tel: 01 475 6404 / 01 475 6405

-England: 31/33 Merrion road, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 205 3700

-Finland: Russell house, Stokes place, st. Stephen green south, Dublin 2
                                 Tel: 01 478 1344

-France: 36 Ailesbury road, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 260 1666

-Germany: 31 Trimleston avenue, booterstown, Co. Dublin 
                                  Tel: 01 269 3011 / 01 269 3123

-Italy: 63/65 Norhtumberland road, ballsbridge, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 660 1744

-Netherlands: 160 Merrion road, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 269 3444

-Norway: Hainault house, 34 Molesworth street, Dublin 2
                                 Tel: 01 662 1800

-Portugal: Knocksinna house, knocksinna road , Foxrock, Dublin 18
                                 Tel: 01 289 4416

-Spain: 17 a merlyn park, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 269 1640 / 01 269 2597

-Sweden: Sun alliance house, 13/17 Dawson street, Dublin 2
                                 Tel: 01 671 5822

-Switzerland: 6 ailesbury road, ballsbridge, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 269 2515 

-United States of America: 42 Elgin road, ballsbridge, Dublin 4
                                 Tel: 01 668 8777


You will find more embassie details at www.escapeartist.com 

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Internet cafes

Here is a list of a few Internet cafes you can find all over the country:

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Phone indicatives

For the Republic of Ireland:

The country is divided in areas, each area is coded by two digits, 01; 02; 04; 05; 06; 07 or 09

This two digit code is not required if you wish to call within your own area, however you will need it if you want to call outside your area.

If you call from outside the country, the country code is 353, you will need to suppress the first digit (0) of your area code, for example if you call someone with a 021 number, you need to dial: the outside code of your country (00 for most of Europe), 353 21………..

A few useful numbers:
 -Directory inquires(national)11811 or 11850
- directory inquires(international)11818
- Emergencies: 999 or 112  

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Sites of interest

Here are a few Web sites that we think could be useful to any one that want to know more about Ireland:
 
-www.goireland.com : you will find all sort of information about accommodation, car rental, transports, visitors guide, maps, details of all major cities etc.…

-www.ireland.travel.ie : It will give you traveling tips, a list of sites detailing each county in Ireland, activities, festivals and much more.

-www.irelandhotels.com : you will find a list of most (over 1000) hotels, guest houses, country houses, castles… in Ireland , giving you details, location and ratings of each premises.

-www.irlgov.ie : this site tells you how the Irish government works and offers many links to different government services.

-www.entemp.ie : For all you need to know about working visa.

-www.revenue.ie: This site will answer all your questions about tax, revenue tax, vat etc..