Ireland
Web development for Irish businesses, built to EU rules from the first commit
Ireland is an EU market with two requirements the UK does not have: Standard Contractual Clauses for any transfer outside the EEA, and the European Accessibility Act, which has applied to consumer-facing e-commerce since June 2025. Both are handled in the build, not bolted on after an audit.
What is different for an Irish client
A market page is only worth existing if it carries something the general pages cannot. For Ireland that is currency, tax treatment, the lawful basis for moving personal data, the accessibility floor, and the hours we actually overlap. All five are below.
Why hire outside your own market
Ireland has a small development market with rates pulled upward by the multinational employers concentrated in Dublin, which prices small-business web work higher than the equivalent in most of the UK.
The two things that genuinely differ for an Irish buyer hiring outside the EEA are the transfer mechanism and the accessibility floor. Both are handled explicitly below rather than discovered during the project.
The facts, in a table
| Pricing | Quoted and invoiced in EUR on request |
|---|---|
| VAT | A B2B supply of services from outside the EU: the reverse charge normally applies and you account for Irish VAT on your own return. Supply your VAT number with the brief |
| Hours | My working day covers 05:00–14:00 Irish time — most of your morning and early afternoon |
| Data protection | EU Standard Contractual Clauses (2021/914), not the UK IDTA. Pakistan has no EU adequacy decision, so the SCCs plus a transfer impact assessment are the lawful route |
| Accessibility | European Accessibility Act: consumer e-commerce has had to meet EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 AA since 28 June 2025. Every build ships against that standard and is tested with a keyboard and a screen reader |
| Payment | SEPA bank transfer or Wise, in EUR, against a numbered invoice |
I have not shipped an Irish client site yet — here is what that means
There is no Irish flag in my portfolio. Nine of my builds are UK, one is Canadian, two are Pakistani and three are global. Claiming otherwise would be the easiest sentence on this page to write and the first one you could disprove.
What does transfer is the work itself: an Irish e-commerce build is technically the same job as a UK one, with a different tax treatment, a different transfer mechanism and a stricter accessibility floor. All three are handled explicitly above rather than discovered mid-project. If you would rather hire someone with Irish logos on the wall, that is a reasonable thing to want and I will not argue you out of it.
The European Accessibility Act is the part most quotes ignore
Since 28 June 2025 the EAA has applied to e-commerce services sold to consumers in the EU, with EN 301 549 — effectively WCAG 2.1 AA — as the conformance standard. Enforcement sits with national authorities, and the obligation falls on the business selling, not on the agency that built the site.
That changes what "finished" means for an Irish store: keyboard operability end to end, visible focus, real form labels and error messaging, colour contrast that passes at AA, and no motion that cannot be paused. This site is built to the same standard it sells — the accessibility statement is public, and it lists what is conformant and what is not.
Tax and invoicing
Not tax advice — I am a developer. This is my position, which your accountant can act on.
| VAT on my invoice | None. A B2B supply of services from outside the EU |
|---|---|
| Reverse charge | You account for Irish VAT on your own return at the applicable rate, then reclaim it in the same return where you are entitled to |
| VAT number | Send it with the brief so the invoice is correct first time and the reverse charge is properly documented |
| Non-registered businesses | If you are below the registration threshold the position differs — worth one question to your accountant before the first invoice |
| Invoice format | Numbered, itemised, in EUR on request, with the reverse charge noted on the face of the invoice |
Data protection and the lawful basis
This is the section most offshore quotes cannot fill in, and it is the point at which procurement usually stops replying. Everything referenced here is published rather than promised — your legal team can read it before you book a call.
| Applicable law | The EU GDPR, supervised by the Data Protection Commission |
|---|---|
| The issue | Pakistan has no EU adequacy decision, so any transfer of personal data is a restricted transfer |
| The mechanism | The 2021 Standard Contractual Clauses (2021/914), module two, controller to processor — incorporated into the published DPA |
| Not the IDTA | The UK addendum is a different instrument and does not cover an EU transfer. A supplier who offers the wrong one has not done this before |
| Also required | A transfer impact assessment, prepared rather than left for you |
| Irish supervisory context | The DPC is among the more active regulators in the EU, which is a reason to have the paperwork right rather than approximately right |
Read the Data Processing Agreement · sub-processor list · full vendor pack
Contracting and ownership
- Written scope before payment
- You own domain, hosting, code and payment accounts throughout
- IP assigns on final payment
- NDA on request, yours
- Cross-border enforcement is impractical at this project size in either direction — staged payment against visible progress is the protection that actually works
Payment and banking
| SEPA transfer | Standard route for EUR, and usually the cheapest |
|---|---|
| Wise | Alternative where you prefer a visible rate |
| Not Stripe | Stripe does not support Pakistan as a merchant country. Built against your account, not used to collect my fees |
| Staged | 40% on scope acceptance, 60% on completion |
| Currency of record | Quotes default to USD and convert to EUR at the rate on the day the quote is issued |
Working hours and how the overlap is used
- My day is 09:00–18:00 PKT, which is 05:00–14:00 Irish time
- You get your entire morning and the start of the afternoon overlapping mine
- Calls held to 21:00 PKT, which is 17:00 Irish time
- Briefs sent in your afternoon are picked up first thing my next morning, which is before you start
- On a short build, decision latency is the binding constraint. One person able to answer within the day is worth more than any process
Domain, language and local search
- A .ie domain requires a demonstrable connection to Ireland and signals local focus, but hard-codes geo-targeting — a generic domain is more flexible if you sell beyond Ireland
- Irish English follows British spelling: "optimise", "colour", "centre"
- Prices in EUR with the VAT position stated, because a business buyer will want to know the reverse charge treatment
- Google Business Profile drives local visibility for anything with a service area
- Competition on Irish commercial terms is genuinely lighter than the UK equivalent, which makes well-built content unusually effective here
Accessibility obligations
- The European Accessibility Act has applied to consumer-facing e-commerce since 28 June 2025, with EN 301 549 — effectively WCAG 2.1 AA — as the conformance standard
- The obligation sits with the business selling, not with the agency that built the site
- Enforcement is by national authorities, and Ireland has designated bodies for it
- Every build here targets WCAG 2.2 AA, which is above the EAA floor, and is tested with a keyboard and a screen reader before handover
- This is the single most commonly ignored requirement in Irish e-commerce quotes, and it is far cheaper during a build than after a complaint
This site is built to the standard it sells, and the accessibility statement lists what is conformant and what is not — which is the part most statements leave out.
Typical projects in this market
- Consumer e-commerce that must meet the EAA properly rather than nominally
- Service businesses needing an enquiry flow and local visibility
- Companies replacing a site nobody internally can edit
- Technical SEO where content exists but nothing ranks
- Custom applications where an off-the-shelf product almost fits
What the alternatives cost
Including the ones that are not me, because a comparison that only flatters the author is not a comparison.
| Route | What it costs and what it buys |
|---|---|
| Dublin agency | Several thousand upwards, with rates influenced by a market competing for the same developers as the multinationals |
| Irish freelancer | Mid hundreds to low thousands, same timezone and legal system |
| UK supplier | Common, and now a third-country transfer from an EU perspective — worth checking their paperwork too |
| Direct offshore hire | Starting from $80, with SCCs and a transfer impact assessment published before you enquire |
What to prepare before you enquire
- Company name, registered address and VAT number
- Whether you sell to consumers, because it decides how hard the EAA applies
- Domain and hosting access in your name
- Content and photography, or a decision to reuse
- One approver who can respond within the day
Coverage across Ireland
34 cities and towns in Ireland have a coverage page setting out what a build costs there, in EUR, under the EU GDPR, supervised by the Irish Data Protection Commission. None of them claims a local office, and each says so in its own words.
Services and prices for Irish businesses
Sectors with live client proof
Glossary
- SCCs
- Standard Contractual Clauses (2021/914) — the EU mechanism for lawful transfers to non-adequate countries.
- TIA
- Transfer impact assessment. Required alongside SCCs; prepared rather than left to you.
- EAA
- European Accessibility Act. Applies to consumer e-commerce since June 2025.
- EN 301 549
- The European accessibility standard, which maps closely to WCAG 2.1 AA.
- DPC
- Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, among the more active EU supervisory authorities.
- Reverse charge
- You account for VAT on services bought from outside the EU on your own return.
Guides worth reading
Irish questions
- Do you have Irish clients?
- Not yet. Nine of my fifteen builds are UK, one is Canadian, two are Pakistani and three serve a global market. I would rather tell you that on the page than let you find it out on a call.
- What is the legal basis for sending EU personal data to Pakistan?
- Pakistan has no EU adequacy decision, so the transfer relies on the 2021 Standard Contractual Clauses plus a transfer impact assessment. Both are pre-prepared: the DPA on this site incorporates the SCCs in module two (controller to processor) and names every sub-processor.
- Do I pay Irish VAT on your invoice?
- For a B2B supply of services from outside the EU the reverse charge normally applies — no VAT on my invoice, and you account for it on your own return. Give me your VAT number with the brief so the invoice is correct first time.
- Does the European Accessibility Act apply to my site?
- If you sell to consumers in the EU, almost certainly yes — the EAA has covered e-commerce services since June 2025 and the standard is EN 301 549, which maps to WCAG 2.1 AA. If you sell only B2B the position is narrower, but the accessibility work is cheap during a build and expensive after one.
- Can you invoice in euro?
- Yes, with SEPA payment details. Quotes default to USD and convert on request at the rate on the day the quote is issued, not the day you pay.
Other markets I work in
Building something in Ireland?
Send the brief and you get a reply within one business day — either questions, or a scoping call. If your project is not something I should take on, I will say so then.
- Response
- Replies within 1 business day
- Hours
- Mon–Fri, 09:00–18:00 PKT — overlaps 05:00–14:00 UK, 00:00–09:00 US Eastern
- Booking
- Booking projects from October 2026