Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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886. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide subsidised English classes and the occupational English test and international English language testing system exams for non-native English speakers who are working in public healthcare settings. [10118/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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At present there are no plans to provide subsidised English classes and the occupational English test and international English language testing system exams for non-native English speakers who are working in public healthcare settings.

However, in the further education and training (FET) sector, all 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) offer free English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, as part of their Adult Literacy provision, to meet the day-to-day social, cultural and work-related language needs of new community members. Priority is given to unemployed migrants, international protection applicants and refugees with limited or no English language skills. People interested in taking part in an ESOL class are encouraged to contact their local ETB. Contact details for the 16 ETBs can be found at www.therightcourse.gov.ie.

The deputy may wish to note that Minister Butler, Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People is establishing a cross-Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group to examine strategic workforce challenges in front-line carer roles in home support and nursing homes.

The work of this Group will focus on engagement with relevant stakeholders in the sector and will involve a structured programme of ongoing consultative engagements with key sectoral stakeholders to further explore and define the issues, listen to stakeholder views, and identify approaches to respond to strategic workforce challenges.

Potential areas to be considered by the Group include recruitment, retention, training, and the career development of front-line carers in home support and nursing homes into the future. Without pre-empting the work of Strategic Workforce Advisory Group, provision of supports to workers, where English is not their first language, to access education and training may also form part of these considerations.