In July, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail Damien English announced changes to the Irish employment permit system – a move that affects countless healthcare assistants around Ireland.
The changes were made in order to address issues such as labour shortages in the healthcare and nursing home sectors across the country.
With an ever-increasing elderly population in Ireland, these changes are aimed at securing carers for those who need them the most.
In this blog post, we will outline exactly what these changes are and how they will affect healthcare workers.
One of the primary developments introduced by the minister was the removal of Health Care Assistants from the ‘ineligible occupation list’.
This means that, following the changes, international healthcare assistants are now eligible to apply for employment permits in Ireland.
As the number of elderly people in Ireland continues to grow, the country has a shortage of healthcare workers to provide sufficient long-term residential care for older people into the future.
There will be a requirement that workers should have attained a relevant QQI Level 5 qualification after two years of employment and this training is available to employers and employees in the sector at no or low cost.
General employment permits may be obtained in respect of employment with a minimum annual salary. This is usually above €30,000. When it comes to Health Care Assistants, there must be a minimum annual remuneration of at least €27,000.
An employee will need to be able to hold the relevant qualifications, skills or experience that are required for employment.
Basing this on a 39-hour working week, an hourly rate of pay of €13.31 is required.
This salary can not include any bonuses, shift allowances, overtime etc.
In 2018, the Health Service Capacity Review forecasted that there would be a 59% increase in the people aged over 65 and a 95% increase in the population aged over 85 in Ireland by 2031.
This also has a direct influence on the number of care beds needed, as between 2016 to 2031, the number of long-term care beds required is predicted to rise by more than 10,000, which will give an additional demand for higher staffing levels.
The changes are predominantly aimed at addressing labour and skill shortages in the medium and long term.
With a rising ageing population, there will be more workers needed to care for our elderly.
There is a variety of information needed for this application, both on the employee themselves and the employer.
The Employer Registered Number (ERN) and Company Name Registered Number is needed.
Details of the job may also be needed, such as the number of hours working in a week and pay rate.
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