The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was responding after a union claimed most migrant healthcare assistants are being paid less than the minimum wage of €13.50 an hour.
The minimum wage rose by 80 cent an hour on January 1.
Unite said migrant healthcare assistants are on a yearly salary that was set by the Department at €27,000, while those on the newly-increased national minimum wage earn €450 more than that per year.
It said the “Government decision leaves most migrant care assistants below the minimum wage”.
A Department spokesperson said the minimum annual remuneration for which an employment permit can be granted was set at €27,000 in 2021 for a 39-hour week.
The minimum hourly rate in this deal was €13.31.
It is a requirement for employers to pay their staff in line with the minimum annual remuneration salary
She noted that the national minimum wage increased to €13.50 per hour last week.
“It is a requirement for employers to pay their staff in line with the minimum annual remuneration salary or, where it is higher, national minimum wage rates,” the spokesperson said.
“As such, healthcare assistants on pay rates of €27,000 per annum (equating to €13.31 per hour) should have their salaries uplifted in line with national minimum wage rates as of January 1, 2025.”
She said a new minimum annual remuneration will be in place for healthcare assistants, home carers and care workers from next Friday.
Any applications, new employment permits or any permits that are renewed must meet a minimum pay threshold of €30,000 and minimum hourly rate of €14.79.
“The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is committed to ensuring that all future increases in the minimum annual remuneration for these roles are implemented in a manner sustainable for employers and permit holders,” she said.
“As part of this, ongoing engagement with the Department of Health, Department of Justice, and representatives of both long-term care employers and workers will continue through 2025.”
However, Unite said migrant healthcare assistants on existing contracts will not benefit from the new government-mandated minimum annual remuneration of €30,000, which will only apply to those on the new contract agreements.
The incoming government must stop listening to bosses and move immediately to ensure that the increased salary applies to all workers
“The increase in the government-mandated salary was originally due to take effect in January 2024 but was postponed a year following lobbying by employer groups,” it said.
“Even the €30,000 rate for new healthcare assistant recruits is still below the current non-European employment permit scheme standard minimum salary of €34,000.”
Unite Irish secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: “Migrant HCAs provide essential care to some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
“The incoming government must stop listening to bosses and move immediately to ensure that the increased salary applies to all workers regardless of whether they are on new or existing contracts”.
