Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. One of the biggest problems we have is getting people to work in the home care area. The Government is dealing with that in some respects. I welcome that over 1,000 visas are being issued to people to come to work in Ireland as healthcare assistants and healthcare workers. Would it not also make sense to look at the thousands of people who are in this country seeking international protection? If they have qualifications in healthcare, home care or in the health field generally, we should fast-track them into the vacancies that exist in our system. That is a constructive engagement the Government must make. It does not make sense that many of the thousands of people staying in our country and who could work usefully in an area they are qualified to work in are not doing so. I welcome the initiatives for people who can speak Ukrainian and have medical and other qualifications, for example, in dentistry, to work in our healthcare system because of the shortage of GPs and other qualified people.

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