Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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564.To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the consultation that has taken place between a body (details supplied) and his Department regarding the changes announced in increasing the minimum annual remuneration thresholds for health care assistants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32295/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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In January 2024, the then Minister of State with responsibility for Business, Employment and Retail, Neale Richmond, met with the organisation referred to to discuss the changes announced to increase the employment permits minimum annual remuneration (MAR) threshold for health care assistants.

A principal rationale for the proposed increase to the thresholds was to ensure that permit holders in these roles received the minimum remuneration required to qualify for the Department of Justice’s family reunification criteria. Communication from representatives of permit holders in this role have indicated that the inability to avail of family reunification has been, and continues to be, particularly distressing to those separated from their families.

Following discussions with this organisation, the decision was taken to defer the intended increase to the MAR threshold for health care assistants, home carers and care workers. No other roles were provided such a deferral, and it was provided in recognition of the specific challenges relating to funding mechanisms for this sector. Minister Richmond publicly affirmed the temporary nature of this deferral on 31^stJanuary 2024, with January 2025 being the latest possible date for the increase, and this was reiterated directly to the organisation in March.

Earlier this year, the organisation participated in a project steering group for the recently completed review of the Labour market impacts of health care assistant employment permits. Pay and conditions were one of the areas of focus of this review. This steering group, chaired by my Department held three in-person meetings on 11^thJanuary, 14^thMarch and 9^thMay and discussed, among other issues, the planned increase in MAR thresholds. during which the increases to the minimum annual remuneration were discussed and the organisation and its members also contributed survey responses to this review.

In the context of these discussions, including on the planned increase in MAR thresholds and on foot of detailed engagement with the Department of Health this year, it was decided that rather than introduce this new threshold in the second half of 2024, it would be better to do so on 1^stJanuary 2025 in order to provide the sector with time to allow for budget/contract negotiations to prepare for this change.