In response to work undertaken by the Department of Health, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment provided access to the General Employment Permit in June 2021 for the role of healthcare assistant. The framework agreed with the Department of Health included the requirement for the employment to offer a remuneration level of €27,000 or more and for the permit holder to achieve a relevant Level 5 Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) qualification after two years in the role. The Level 5 qualification after two years is the minimum required for this role. This criterion was established to ensure all workers in the healthcare assistant role would work towards building their skills and range of qualifications and in safeguarding the care of vulnerable patients that a similar standard of learning will be met and delivered upon across care settings.
It is also worth noting that among the recommendations of the Department of Health SWAG Report is the recommendation that ‘a competency framework for the healthcare assistants and care workers should be developed to enable the recognition of prior learning and qualifications and to align grades of employment with qualifications in line with relevant regulations’ .
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment works with other Departments, including the Department of Health, to promote an integrated approach to addressing labour and skills shortages being experienced in the economy. Employment permit policy is part of the response to addressing skills deficits which exist and are likely to continue into the medium term, but it is not intended over the longer term to act as a substitute for meeting the challenge of up-skilling the State’s resident workforce.
I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this issue and my officials will work with Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment officials in relation to clarification of qualification comparisons from non-EU college courses.
