Health care assistants demand end to family reunification barriers

Union also seeking radical reform of ‘50/50 rule’

In a statement issued to mark World Children’s Day, trade union Unite today (Thursday) called on the government to abolish family reunification income limits and waiting times. Unite organises migrant health care assistants (HCAs) working in nursing homes and homecare settings throughout Ireland, as well as other workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) on employment permits.

Unite members joined the ‘Rally for Family Reunion’ organised outside the Dáil at noon today by Migrant Rights Centre Ireland.

The union’s Irish secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: “Families throughout Ireland know the essential role played by migrant HCAs in looking after elderly or vulnerable family members – yet government policy separates many HCAs from their own  families. Today, on World Children’s Day, Unite is calling on the government to scrap the inhumane rules splitting parents and children.”

The union is also calling for radical reform of the so-called ‘50/50 rule’. This rule may not only see migrant workers stranded when their contracts expire but is also exacerbating staffing shortages in critical areas such as nursing home care.

The 50/50 rule generally requires that the proportion of workers from outside the EU or EEA not exceed 50 per cent in any given workplace.  Given the high levels of staff turnover in sectors such as nursing homes, the proportion of EU/EEA workers may fall during a permit holder’s contract.  This means that the employer is prohibited from renewing the non-EEA worker’s contract, not only leaving the worker without a permit – since they are no longer employed – but also nullifying any associated spousal visas.

In cases where both spouses are working as HCAs and one spouse’s permit is not renewed due to the 50/50 rule, couples may face enforced separation.

Unite regional officer Michael O’Brien said: “Applying the 50/50 rule in this situation is both inhumane and illogical. The reason that nursing homes may breach the 50 per cent non-EU/EEA threshold in the first place is often due to the lack of EU/EEA workers willing and qualified to take up HCA positions. 

“The non-renewal of a permit holder’s contract then puts even more pressure on existing staff – in turn making recruitment and retention more difficult. This nonsensical application of the rule must end.”