Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this scenario. We know there are many people who have been approved for hours and need help and it is Government policy to keep people at home as long as possible and to give them the care and support they need to be able to do that. We are very much focused on that and we will work with officials and all Departments to try to make it happen.

Currently, Department officials are actively engaged with the Department of Health in regard to the recruitment challenges outlined and my Department is a member of the cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group chaired by the Department of Health. Areas being considered by that 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. In some areas where we sanction the use of a permit, it involves training as well. Deputy O'Sullivan mentioned the rate of €27,000, which was set for healthcare assistants last April and which was more than a year ago. That does not have to be the exact amount of money. It can vary for different sectors and different areas but we try to be at the high end. We do not want to undercut the market by bringing in talent from abroad. A figure of that order sounds appropriate.

The group the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, chairs provides a forum for agreement on strategic approaches to address these workforce challenges in the sector and will develop a set of recommendations for the Minister of Health's consideration outlining the group’s key findings and a proposed action plan to support implementation of these recommendations by September 2022. Naturally we hoped that report would have been finished in time to feed into our review of the permits but it does not look like it will be.

The timing of our next review of the occupational list in regard to permits will be kept under consideration by my Department in the context of clearing the current employment permits backlog. It is intended to have it open in the next few weeks if we can do so. We usually have it open around June or July most years, and again in the autumn. When open submissions will be invited from sector representative bodies and interested parties via the public consultation forum accessible on my Department’s website throughout the consultation period.

I will happily engage with the various sectors to make a very strong case. However, it will be important that we capture the evidence that shows every effort was made to try to recruit people on decent contracts, with decent pay, locally and within Europe. It is important they engage with the Department of Social Protection and the EURES advertising portal.

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