Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022
711. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health if she has had any engagement with the Minister for Justice regarding international Garda clearance to allow refugees to take-up employment with homecare providers, to ensure that this process is simple and easy to access; if not, if she will consider same given the current recruitment and retention crisis in the homecare sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27639/22]
View answerI would like to thank Deputy Kerrane for her question.
My Dept and the HSE are committed to supporting Ukrainians in working in healthcare in Ireland, in line with provisions of the Temporary Protection Directive.
The HSE is currently reviewing the process by which Ukrainians can complete Garda Vetting while adhering to the HSE’s legal requirements for all those who undertake certain work or activities relating to children or vulnerable adults.
The HSE is considering what documentation a Ukrainian could reasonably provide to evidence their identity and a current address. When this review is complete the HSE will share any revised standards with the relevant employment agencies who may review their practices in line with HSE standards.
The Minister for Mental Health and Older People and I are very aware of the strategic workforce challenges in the home support and nursing homes sector.
Minister Butler has established a cross-Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group to examine strategic workforce challenges in front-line carer roles in home support and nursing homes.
The Department of Justice is a member of the Group.
To this end, a 'Call for Submissions' was issued by this Department to relevant stakeholders in December 2021.
Following receipt of these completed submissions in January, Department officials undertook a short-life scoping exercise to gather initial data and evidence on the nature and extent of the challenges in the sector to inform the structure and membership of this cross-departmental Group.
On completion of the scoping exercise, the inaugural meeting of this Group was held on 3 March, 2022.
At this meeting, the Terms of Reference for the Group and action timelines were agreed. These Terms of Reference were published and are available on the Department’s website.
The Group has been working with key sectoral stakeholders in a structured programme of ongoing consultative engagements to further explore and define the issues.
Areas being considered by the Group include recruitment, retention, training, pay and conditions, and the career development of front-line carers in home support and nursing homes into the future.
The Group provides a forum for agreement on strategic approaches to address the workforce challenges in the sector nationwide and will develop a set of recommendations for Minister Butler’s consideration outlining the Group’s key findings and a proposed action plan to support implementation of these recommendations by September 2022.
