DUBLIN: The government has decided to grant 1,000 general employment permits next year to home carers from outside the European Union as part of an acute shortage of home carers in Ireland.
Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Mary Butler and Minister of State for Business, Employment, and Retail Damian English made the announcement at the launch of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group’s report on home carers and nursing home health assistants.
The Department of Health believes that even the 6,000 people approved for government-funded home care cannot be filled by the recruitment of a thousand carers.
Employers will be forced to offer full-time positions with a monthly salary of at least €27,000 per year and a continuous shift length of four hours per working day to those who receive work permits.
“This will ensure good-quality employment for care workers who come to Ireland while also easing our national recruitment crisis,” Ms. Butler said.
The ministers said they accepted the group’s recommendations and prioritised their full implementation.
“All care workers in home support and long-term residential care for the elderly should be paid fairly and have the opportunity to advance in their careers.”
Employers must be prepared to pay home care workers and health care assistants the country’s current leaving cost (currently €12.90) and to receive payment for the full time the home care worker is travelling.
Minister English said the government will urgently address the shortage of carers in Ireland through new measures.
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