Nursing home workers face permit refusals over 'strict' 50:50 EU to non-EU staffing rule

A REPRESENTATIVE GROUP for migrant nurses in Ireland said that several workers have recently been left without work permits after the Department of Enterprise found their employers had failed to meet the required 50:50 ratio of EU to non-EU staff.

Under the employment permit system, employers seeking to hire workers from outside the European Economic Area must ensure that at least half of their workforce are Irish or EEA nationals at the time an application is assessed. The rule, commonly referred to as the “50:50 rule”, is intended to limit overreliance on non-EU labour.

Migrant Nurses Ireland (MNI) said that up to 200 nurses that they are aware of have been affected by this issue, and that while some nurses have since been able to find alternative employment, some remain in a situation where they cannot leave the country, and cannot plan for their families to join them here.

This is because without being in possession of an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, they are not guaranteed re-entry into the country.

A letter sent to enterprise minister Peter Burke by MNI at the end of February highlighted the “growing challenges” facing healthcare assistants seeking to renew their employment and residence permits.

“In recent months, the strict application of the 50:50 employment rules has had a significant impact on the renewal process,” the letter said.

MNI informed the minister that HCA’s who have been “living and working in Ireland lawfully for a few years” are now being issued renewal refusals.

“This situation has created considerable anxiety and uncertainty among these essential workers and their families,” the letter said.

A spokesperson from the Department of Enterprise said that all employment permit applications, including renewals, are assessed according to the Employment Permits Act, “including compliance with the 50:50 rule”. 

They added that the rule “helps to promote the prioritisation of the existing available workforce” in the healthcare sector across Ireland, the UK and the European Economic Area. 

The department carries out regular compliance checks across the sector, and where non-compliance with the 50:50 is identified “it can have implications for an employer’s ability to obtain new permits or renew existing permits”, the spokesperson further said. 

They added that the department is aware of concerns raised by stakeholders about the 50:50 rule, and that a review of the policy is currently being carried out which will consider “risks of continuity of care due to staffing shortages”. 

Other government departments and stakeholders in the healthcare sector are engaging with this policy review. 

Healthcare workers from outside the EU in Ireland have to renew their general employment permit every two years; if this is not done it means their Irish residence permit becomes invalid.

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Healthcare assistants recruited from outside the EU generally work in Ireland on General Employment Permits.

Those permits are tied to a specific employer and renewals can usually be submitted up to four months before expiry. If a renewal application is refused, workers can lose the basis for their immigration permission unless they secure another qualifying role.

This can further invalidate the right to work for the person’s spouse, which is dependent on them being classed as an essential worker here.

MNI told Burke that in the group’s view, this strict application of the 50:50 rule in nursing homes appears to be “inconsistent with Ireland’s commitment to strengthening its healthcare workforce”. 

It’s understood that since the issue was flagged with the Department, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) assisted some workers who were issued refusals who had been working for a large nursing home group.

Some of those workers have taken up alternative employment as a result of being refused a permit within their current roles.

One nurse who was refused their employment permit spoke to The Journal about the impact that it has had on her life.

The nurse started working in a nursing home last March after being recruited to work for a large nursing home group at one of their Limerick sites, where she worked specifically with residents who had an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

“I got a rejection from the government, and they explained to me that it is because of the nursing home group’s problems.

“Other nurses have gone to work for the HSE because of the same problem, so we also have a lack of staff, and we depend on agency staff instead of experienced nursing home staff,” she said.

The nurse said that there was an initial delay in her permit being applied for in the first place, and as a result of the entire process being delayed she has not been able to go back to India to see her two children, aged 6 and 11, since coming to Ireland. She is also not in a position to apply for them to come and live with her here.

“Because of all this stress I woke up one day and I had Bell’s Palsy, I had facial paralysis. 

“My mother has had a serious illness, and I want to be able to go home and see her before she dies, that is my primary aim now,” she said.

A spokesperson for MNI said that they have advocated for a fair approach to the 50:50 rule from officials, especially in the case of nurses and HCA’s who have been working and living in Ireland long term.

“If you go to a nursing home anywhere in the country today where they are using agency staff, you are not going to see a 50:50 split in EU and non-EU staff, and that is a reality that needs to be faced,” a spokesperson said.

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