Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 June 2023
9. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of employment permits issued to non-EEA home care workers since December 2022; the number of applications received; the number of applications refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31204/23]
View answerI ask the Minister of State about the number of employment permits issued to non-EEA home care workers since December 2022. Will he make a statement on the number of applications received and the number of applications refused?
Following constructive engagement with the home care sector on 16 December 2022, my predecessor announced changes to the employment permits system to allow home carers and care workers to become eligible for general employment permits. We know there is a lack of carers in Ireland and I am pleased that the employment permit system is able to help in this regard. This shows how responsive the work permit system can be in reacting to the needs of employers and, more importantly, people across the country. Thorough engagement led to this decision. In March 2022, a cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group was established by the Department of Health to examine the strategic workforce challenges in publicly and privately provided front-line carer roles in home care and long-term residential care for older people.
The report from this group contained 16 recommendations spanning recruitment, pay and conditions, barriers to employment, training and professional development and sectoral reform. The report recommended that the Government enable the employment in Ireland of non-EU and non-EEA care workers in the sector. In line with this recommendation, a quota of 1,000 general employment permits for care workers and home carers was introduced.
Since the introduction of this quota, 138 permits have been granted, with 13 applications refused. The precise number of applications awaiting processing in this category cannot be determined definitively as these applications have yet to be processed and assigned an appropriate standard occupational classification. However, a manual check indicates that approximately 15 applications await processing.
I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is welcome that an additional 138 applications have been made, with a few pending. Given that the quota was 1,000, that is far below the level of demand. To be fair to the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, she has steadfastly fought to ensure adequate resourcing and funding in this sector. I believe there are approximately 23.5 million hours of home care provision being delivered annually. As of February this year, there are still approximately 6,000 patients who have been assessed and approved for home care provision but who are yet to receive that support from a carer. It is welcome that we have responded and taken the steps outlined by the Minister of State. Is the Government considering any additional measures to ensure that services are delivered and that those approximately 6,000 patients get the adequate provision for which they have been approved?
We are starting to stray beyond the remit of this Department. The request made to us, and the advice received, was to make sure we could provide enough permits for people outside the European Economic Area to fill those roles and complete those hours. Let us be frank here. Some 1,000 permits were made available, but only 138 have been drawn down. That is disappointing when there are people who need 6,000 hours of care across the country. We can all agree that these are the most vulnerable people in our society. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is more than happy to work with the Department of Health or private operators. We meet them all the time. We are having an ongoing discussion about ways we can attract people to Ireland to work in this sector. We think this is a particularly good place to work. We think the roles available are well-paid and provide good conditions. They are stressful, but we are in a difficult period in our economy. On the one hand, it is brilliant that we have effective full employment, but on the other hand, it means we have a tough and tight labour market in all roles, but in particular in the care sector.
We all understand the issue with home care, and we all have constituents coming to us who, even when approved, cannot get home care. It is all about delivering for their family members in their own homes. We know the work that has been done. We know the cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group, CDSWAG, recommendations. I know this is beyond the Minister of State's remit, but we need those delivered as soon as possible. We know there are questions about the tender figure at this point, and negotiations are ongoing. We need to ensure those pieces happen. There is talk about social protection pieces, and maybe tax breaks for someone working in the health sector who may be able to do weekend work but does not need to be absolutely crucified.
We know about those in families who are carers and the limits on their hours. All of that needs to be dealt with. I think we were talking about 138 applications and 13 refusals.
It was 138 approvals.
Yes, and 15 in play. We obviously need to look at something like a foreign recruitment drive that will be more successful than this, while accepting that accommodation and other issues have an impact.
I appreciate the response from the Minister of State, who has also outlined his disappointment about the uptake. It behoves us to look at this again, albeit that the initial quota was announced in December 2022. Seven months is not a long time, in particular in terms of how we deal with issues here. There is a pay threshold that can prove problematic for what are often relatively lower paid jobs. I am not saying I am advocating this but, given the poor uptake, is there a case for looking at the labour market needs assessment in approving these applications? I understand there is also a 50:50 rule, where 50% of the workforce in a business might have to be domestically based, and a maximum of 50% can be brought in from abroad. Is there a case to look at that?
Finally, a recent report on RTÉ Radio 1 stated that migrant workers in this space are paid anything up to 20% less in comparison to their Irish counterparts. Is there a case to look at increasing the pay and conditions for people in that sector?
There are a couple of good ideas there. I say to Deputy Ó Murchú that the Department would be more than happy to support foreign recruitment drives in any sector where we have a massive gap of talent, but in particular in this one. It has been done in the past, in the wider healthcare sector. We should all be supportive of bringing good, talented people into this country to provide vital services. On the 50:50 rule mentioned by Deputy O'Sullivan, it is important to stress that it does not refer to domestic-based workers. It states that 50% have to be from the European Union or the European Economic Area, so it is not just Irish-based or Irish naturalised citizens. The 50:50 rule is there for a good purpose. It is there for historic reasons, to make sure this system cannot be abused. There is a degree of flexibility. However, the notion that an employer setting up shop can bring in 100% of the workers from outside the European Union is of serious concern, not just to workers already here, but to the economic model.
On the pay threshold and incomes for home care support, the minimum salary starts at €30,000. It is a good starting salary. It is quite a bit above minimum wage. However, would increasing that attract more applicants into the country to fill the positions? I argue that it probably would not. We need to work more closely with the private operators, and those who have the franchises, to see how they can fill those gaps. Seven months is not that long in political terms. However, when it comes to sourcing and identifying staff, putting them in employment and bringing them over from places like India or the Philippines, seven months is not a particularly long time. This is usually a six-to-12-week process alone. I am optimistic we will see a lot more of these work permits filled through the second half of the year. It behoves all of us to pay an active part in it.
