Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Just to be clear, this does not apply solely to the nursing homes sector. It also includes healthcare assistants and home support workers, so while it is obviously a provision for people who are in nursing homes, be they private nursing homes or independent nursing homes, it is also for those who provide care in the home and those who provide disability services, many of the recipients of which would not be classed as nursing home residents. It covers two broad professions.

We met Nursing Homes Ireland and representatives of Migrant Nurses Ireland, Unite the Union and others, and we had discussions with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and others. We did not make this decision on the basis of one submission from one body. We made this submission in advance.

Something I really want to underline for the Deputy, and this is not just a matter of good faith, is that this is an extremely temporary measure. Regardless of what is happening, this deferral, at the very latest will be changed on 17 January 2025, but I hope to achieve the minimum threshold long before that. We are working constructively based on the fact that work permits for healthcare assistants and home support workers were only brought in 2021 after a consultation process. We are using that model to achieve this as quickly as possible.

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