Ciarán Cuffe TD GREEN PARTY Dún Laoghaire
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Ciarán Cuffe TD GREEN PARTY Dún Laoghaire
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| Press Release: Justice 5 October 2005 Links to: All Press Releases 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Dún Laoghaire, Environment and Justice Press Releases
5 October 2005
Green Card minimum entry
requirement of €55,000 is unacceptable The
Green Party has expressed concern at reports today suggesting that a salary of
at least €55,000 could be set as the minimum entry requirement for migrants
who wish to apply for the Government’s new green card system.
Justice
spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD said today: “While the Green Party welcomes the
introduction of a green card system in Ireland, to set such a high minimum entry
requirement would be both inequitable and short-sighted.
This minimum entry requirement of €55,000 per year will preclude huge
numbers of potential workers from even considering applying for the scheme.
This is a ridiculous concept at a time when this country more than ever
needs workers from abroad to close the gaps in a number of sectors as identified
by Forfás and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs.”
“For
example, both the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Irish Nurses
Organisations (INO) have warned that over the next two years there will be a
significant shortage in the number of nurses and midwives available to work in
Ireland. Due to the change from a three year Diploma in Nursing to a four year
BSc Nursing programme, there will be no student nurses in Ireland completing
their education and training programme this year. According to the INO there
will be 1,500 fewer nurses than usual in the system by next autumn.
However, at the moment a staff nurse working in an Irish hospital can
expect to receive a starting salary of €27,757*.”
“The
green card system has the potential to offer great opportunities to migrant
workers while at the same time helping to solve Ireland’s skills shortage.
But why should a nurse or a carpenter be denied the same opportunities as
a doctor or an engineer simply because their earning power is not as high?
This figure must be revised downwards if we are to make any real progress
in bridging the sectoral gaps in this country.” *Irish
Nurses Organisation 2005 |
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Ciarán Cuffe is a TD for the Dún Laoghaire
Dáil Constituency. Ciarán can be contacted at Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street,
Dublin 2 or 96 Patrick Street, Dún Laoghaire Tel. 284 6060
or 618 3082, Fax 618 4341, Email
Ciaran |
CiaranCuffe.com