Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I was not expecting that answer. I thought there would be some sort of clarity about how the HSE will resolve the issues these workers are facing. The point that Deputy Barry made is quite correct. When these nurses finish at 8 o'clock in the evening, they cannot ring their children up because it is 1.30 a.m. in India, and when they finish an early morning shift at 8 o'clock, their children are in school. In many ways, they can only contact their children at the weekends. Yet, they must be earning €30,000 per annum to bring a spouse home, and if they want to bring a child home it is an extra €3,000 per child. That means that for those who have one child or two children, it could be €36,000. By virtue of the policy of the Government, the €27,000 minimum income requirement per annum excludes those workers from having any opportunity to bring their spouse or children over. They have been separated from them for nearly two years. The fact that they have to pay €1,700 for the QQI level 5 healthcare assistant qualification, when they are qualified nurses already, seems a bit mad. We want to keep these workers here. The are in a poverty trap and a family reunification trap.

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