Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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When there were demands to review the permit system for non-EEA workers interested in coming to Ireland to work in the private nursing home sector or in home care, I was very interested in the Department's response, a response that I welcomed at the time. The Department, to its credit, after undertaking a review reminded the sector of its obligations on pay, terms and conditions for the people who work in that sector. It pointed very pointedly to the issue of poor pay rates, poor conditions and so on, and why that was the fundamental issue as to why the sector could not retain staff and attract new staff.

I am assuming that the Department would have undertaken a similar exercise in assessing the demand for a scheme like this in the sectors that might be interested in accessing schemes of this nature. If it did such a review, while the Minister of State might not have all the information to hand, he might talk us through that. Has a conversation taken place with the industries that might access schemes of this nature? Have concerns been expressed? That should be the first conversation that should happen. Have the Minister of State and his officials expressed concerns about poor levels of pay, terms and conditions in the sectors that are relevant? What did they find and what did they determine from those conversations?