For employers in Ireland · Meat processing

Meat processing recruitment agency in Ireland

Hire butchers, boners and meat process operatives in Ireland: people already in Ireland with the right to work first, and trade tested candidates from overseas when local cannot fill it, with the employment permit and visa handled with you. Fixed fee, no retainer, nothing charged to the candidate.

Hiring in the UK? Meat processing recruitment in the UK.

118 butchers, boners and meat process operatives on our register today

23 of them are already in Ireland, the UK or elsewhere in Europe and can start without a permit from abroad. Everyone we put forward is trade tested first.

Tell us what you need

Two pools, one call

People already in Ireland, and people we bring in

Already here

No permit. Interviews in days, not months.

Drivers, mechanics, welders and fitters who are in Ireland now with the right to work, and register with us because they want a change: indoors, days, nearer home, a better yard. Start date is their notice period, not a Department timeline. The quickest thing we do.

Overseas, trade tested

Work shown on video before you see a CV. Trade tested before you hire. Permit handled with you.

Where the local pool is dry for your trade, or you want a bench for the year, we test people on real kit before anyone travels and handle the permit paperwork with you. Longer, and the timeline is the Department's, but it is how the biggest yards in the country fill their rosters.

Most clients use both: the local pool for the gap now, the overseas bench for the growth. Nothing is charged to any candidate, in either pool.

How we fill it

Trade tested, paperwork handled, fixed fee

1
The test
Practical assessment on the line with the employer. In Johannesburg, Manila or a partner centre, before anyone travels. You get the score sheet. How the test is run
2
The paperwork
The employment permit application prepared with you, the visa handled with the candidate, and the Department's current timeline told to you plainly before you commit.
3
The landing
Flights, accommodation, PPSN, bank account and phone sorted, and someone checking in with them after they start, so they stay.
4
The fee
A fixed fee per placement, invoiced when they start. No retainer, no startup fee, and nothing is ever charged to the candidate.

What the official figures say

Employment permits in C - Manufacture of Food, Drink & Tobacco, by year

917 so far in 2026. Irish employers in this sector hire from outside the EEA every week; these are the Department's own figures.

496

2025

917

2026

The full sector page · All Irish permit figures

Questions employers ask

Hiring butchers, boners and meat process operatives in Ireland: the answers

How do I hire butchers, boners and meat process operatives in Ireland?

Tell us how many you need, where and when. We look first at people already in Ireland with the right to work. If local cannot fill it, we recruit overseas, trade test every candidate before they travel, and handle the employment permit and visa with you.

How are the butchers, boners and meat process operatives tested?

Practical assessment on the line with the employer. Overseas candidates are tested at our vetted test centres in Johannesburg, Manila or Dubai, or at a partner centre near them, and you get the score sheet.

What does it cost?

A fixed fee per person: €4,000 for a local hire and €5,500 for an overseas hire, invoiced when they start. No retainer and no start-up fee. Government fees are passed through at cost, and nothing is ever charged to the candidate.

How long does it take?

Someone already in Ireland can usually start within weeks. From overseas, the permit and visa processing times set the pace, and we tell you the current timelines plainly before you commit.

Can you hire from outside the EU?

Yes. We recruit from the Philippines, South Africa, the UAE and India among others, and we handle both ends: the rules in the candidate's country and the permit at yours.

For employers in Ireland

Tell us how many butchers, boners and meat process operatives you need and when

You get candidates we already have trade tested, the permit timeline as it stands, and a fixed fee. No retainer, nothing charged to the candidate, and nothing to sign until you have seen people.