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Hospital Staff.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 June 2004

Tuesday, 22 June 2004

Questions (76)

Paul Nicholas Gogarty

Question:

68 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps he intends to take to ensure that Filipino nurses who provide such a valuable role in hospitals here, continue to stay in face of better conditions being offered in other states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18479/04]

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Written answers

The policies of my Department in relation to recruitment of overseas nurses are set out in the publication, Guidance for Best Practice on the Recruitment of Overseas Nurses and Midwives published in 2001. The guidelines cover all aspects of the recruitment process including: planning staff selection; visas and work permits; provision of advice before leaving home; the procedures for gaining registration in Ireland and induction, orientation and adaptation on arrival in Ireland.

The guidelines were developed by a committee of experts from Government Departments and the health services employers, and represent current best practice. The guiding principles underlying the policies are quality, ethical recruitment, equity, inclusiveness and promotion of nursing as a career. This document is currently being updated.

Supports provided to overseas nurses arriving to work in the health service include supervised clinical practice, orientation and assessment. A full-time clinical placement co-ordinator is employed to facilitate this. Nurses are paid at the minimum point of the staff nurse scale during this period, and following registration are given full incremental credit for relevant nursing experience. Overseas nurses enjoy the same employment protection as Irish and EU nurses, and are given the same career development supports and opportunities.

Employers are required to assist overseas nurses in obtaining registration with An Bord Altranais, and assistance in obtaining work permits, visas and work authorisations can also be provided. Employers should provide subsidised accommodation for six weeks following arrival and assist nurses in securing long-term private accommodation.

Since 1998, 5,678 non-EU nurses have been registered by An Bord Altranais. While these nurses come from a variety of countries, the predominant country of origin is the Philippines. Officials from my Department are in regular contact with the Philippines Embassy in London and with the honorary consul in Dublin. In fact, senior officials of my Department met with the Philippines ambassador as recently as 1 June last. Feedback from the Philippines authorities is that their nurses are treated well in Ireland, that Irish employment laws are worker friendly and adequately protect the rights of overseas nurses, and that Irish people are receptive and friendly to immigrant workers. The deputy head of mission at the embassy has stated that Ireland remains competitive for foreign skilled workers, particularly Filipinos.

As the Deputy may be aware, late last year media reports highlighted the dissatisfaction of many of the 3,000 or so Filipino nurses working in Ireland with the then arrangement which did not allow their spouses an automatic entitlement to work in Ireland. I also received individual representations from Filipino nurses and the embassy of the Philippines in London on this matter. Many Filipino nurses maintained that the situation in relation to work permits for their spouses effectively meant that the nurse was providing the sole income of the household. Other countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia allowed the nurses' spouses an automatic right to work. Nurses cited this as a reason why some of them were transferring to work in other developed countries.

I very much welcomed the announcement in February 2004 by my colleague, the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, of the introduction of new arrangements for work permits which will be confined to the spouses of certain categories of non-EEA employees, including nurses, in the State. These new arrangements will give greater ease of access to employment for eligible spouses, under specified schemes and facilities. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment recently published a guide to work permits for spouses of employment permit holders and this has been made available to all health service employers. The guide is also published on my Department's website.

A survey of EU nursing pay rates by my Department indicated in 2003 that the average annual salary for a nurse with ten years experience is €30,247 per annum. In Ireland, the same nurse was paid €34,103 per annum which represents a premium of almost 13%. In the United Kingdom, a nurse with ten years experience earned €25,940 per annum. In Ireland, premium pay, which included overtime, unsocial hours and night duty rates, typically added a further 23% to basic earnings.

Excellent relations and levels of co-operation have been established between the Irish and Filipino authorities, and I would like to place on the record my appreciation of the contribution Filipino nurses have made to our health service.

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