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

In response to Deputy Carey, first of all, the permit regime change we made for the healthcare assistant is of major assistance to nursing homes and we work closely with them around that. Close to 2,000 permits have been issued. We have streamlined our process and we focus in, whether it be on home-care assistants or chefs, at different times of the year when there is a high priority. I think we have managed to do that, but the simple question the Deputy asked was on whether we can align that better with the Department of Justice. That is something I would agree with the Deputy on. We are trying to do that too and it is trying to focus its resources where we are to match up with the individual sectors. Nursing home care and home care are the two key areas.

We were able to make the change in the case of the healthcare assistant issue because the evidence was there. The same evidence was not there to address the shortage in the home care sector. I have engaged directly with that sector outside of the strategic advisory working group as well to hone in on the contracts that are on offer, the subsistence and the terms and conditions because the Tánaiste is very clear on this. Work has to always pay and we have to make sure that we are working with high-quality jobs here. The permit is not the solution to everything and we must see good contracts on offer that deal with all the issues concerned as well.

That advisory group, I understand, is to complete its work in September. The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Butler, is anxious that it does. We can respond to that as well.

On the third point in relation to the tax regime, we would agree that there are quite a high number of people who for whatever reason are not available to work in this country. I do not mean people who cannot work or are on social protection, but that there is a large number of people who might have retired early or have not gone back to work. We need to find new ways to unlock that potential. This is one area where there is a great deal of potential for it. That is something that is being looked at by the advisory group.

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