Only 65 non-EU homecare workers take up 1,000 available permits

Joseph Musgrave (right) said citizens of some non-EU countries need to also apply for a visa, saying “the visa takes around 20 weeks to process” separately. File picture: Naoise Culhane

Just 65 people have applied for new work permits giving non-EU carers work rights in the homecare industry despite 1,000 permits being available, new figures show.

The scheme opened in January to help tackle recruitment challenges. It echoes a similar scheme already in place for hospital and nursing home roles. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is overseeing the scheme. 

“There have been 65 applications - of which, 50 have been issued, 10 refused and 5 are awaiting processing," a spokeswoman said. 

Applicants were from 14 countries including Brazil (17 issued) and The Philippines (13 issued). Work permits were also issued to staff from Sri Lanka (7), Cameroon (3) and India (2).  It takes around eight working days to process.

Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI) represents many private and voluntary homecare providers.

CEO Joseph Musgrave welcomed the permits, saying: “I give a lot of credit to DET&E (Department of Enterprise) for streamlining the permit process, because the process does work quite efficiently.” 

However, he said citizens of some non-EU countries need to also apply for a visa, saying “the visa takes around 20 weeks to process” separately. There are plans to streamline this, he understands.

Homecare is offered through the HSE and private or voluntary companies under tender for the HSE. A new tender is expected to take effect from May.

“The tender has frozen strategic planning in the sector, no provider knows what price will be set or whether they need to bid on the tender. We actually don’t know and it is less than a month away from the (current) tender expiring,” he said.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

“Our members are in limbo and that is why the numbers aren’t so high.” 

He added: “If agreement is reached on tender, that will then lead to members engaging with this process more because they will have the ability to strategically plan for the first time in 15 months.” 

He also highlighted the time-lag between granting these permits to other areas and homecare.

“I have emails going back a couple of years from our members saying ‘I am about to lose a member of staff because they’re going somewhere they can get these permits,” he said. “So the Government was slow to do this, and as a result it led to a skills drain from homecare to other settings.” 

A HSE spokeswoman said discussions continue on the new tender, confirming the current one will expire at the end of April. “We expect, further to previous ongoing engagements, to be in touch with the homecare providers again on this next week,” she said.