A LARGE GROUP of overseas nurses who quit their jobs after receiving employment offers from Irish hospitals and nursing homes have been unable to come and work here due to work permit delays and rejections. 

Some nurses from countries outside of the EEA told The Journal that they have “become depressed”, and “lost hope” that they will be able to come to Ireland to start working in its health system as they have faced multiple Atypical Working Scheme (AWS) rejections from the Department of Justice, resulting in some losing their job offers. 

Others, who had to give three months notice to quit jobs in hospitals in India and Middle Eastern countries, have been unemployed for months as a result of the situation and are encountering financial hardship. 

Overseas nurses secure their job offers with the help of agencies, some of which are Irish based and in receipt of contracts worth millions from the HSE, and some which are based in India, and may charge nurses substantially more for their services.  

A group of 1,025 nurses who have been facing issues securing their AWS permit since January of this year have come together to try and get the HSE and the Department of Health to intervene.

Nurses who are being impacted by work permit delays came together on Zoom to speak about their experience to The Journal. (Credit: The Journal)

Sixteen of these nurses have formed the Overseas Nurses Ireland Panel (ONIP). 

With help from Migrant Nurses Ireland – a support group for nurses who come from overseas to work in the Irish healthcare system – they have written to Government ministers to inform them that since January, their group has received permit rejections “without any clear explanation or justification”. 

“This lack of transparency and communication leaves affected candidates in confusion and despair,” they said. 

The group surveyed 382 members who have received rejections and requests for further information from the Department of Justice, on issues such as an issue  in the metadata of their scanned documentation, the WRC license status of their recruitment agency, and a family member’s credit card being used to pay the €250 application fee. 

The group claims that prior to January of this year, it took – on average – 15-20 days to hear back from the Department on a permit application, but now – on average – their group is experiencing a 36-day wait for a reply each time they get knocked back in the process. 

Some of these candidates have had their job offers pulled due to the knock-on delay these rejections have caused, after already resigning from secure jobs in Indian and Gulf countries to come to Ireland. 

Ila*, a nurse who is based in Delhi, received a job offer from an Irish hospital following a face-to-face interview. 

After applying in January, she has had her AWS permit rejected twice. She is still waiting to hear anything further from the department, and is currently unemployed as she was advised by her future Irish employer to quit her job five months ago. 

“I am very depressed. I am the primary breadwinner in my family, and I work to take care of them. As the months go on, the stress of this situation is becoming too much for me,” she told The Journal.

“Next month my OET (English language qualification) will expire. This could mean that I will likely lose my job offer. What can I do? I have been two years in this process holding out hope for my dream of working in Ireland. 

“Now I am extremely worried that I will not be able to explain this career gap to other employers. Imagine what it is like for me, I told my family and everyone that I am going, and now I am still sitting idly at home, when I should be working.”

Anika is a 49-year-old nurse with 26 years experience based in Kerala. She has a job offer for a nursing home in Dublin. 

She says she has been left “completely broken” by the recruitment process involved in coming to Ireland. 

“There have been obstacles every step of the way. I respect every country’s immigration rules, but I did not expect, as an experienced professional who has worked in paediatric ICU wards, and in cardiac surgery for many years, to be made to struggle like this. 

“I did not expect to be treated like this by a developed country,” Anika said. 

She has had her AWS application rejected three times, and most recently received a request for further information. 

“I got the first rejection quickly. It was because my [recruitment] agency submitted my documents from Ireland – which includes my passport and my signed job contract – and they wanted me to send them from India, so I did. 

“It took two months to hear back the second time. Now, since 8 April I am still waiting. My OET will expire in September, and my job offer will expire shortly after. As I have resigned from my job here, I am feeling a lot of stress and pressure,” she said. 

“We have provided so much documentation in this process. We are very experienced nurses, who will still face a difficult exam before we can practice in Ireland. Why are we being rejected over metadata, which I do not understand and cannot find information about, or what kind of scanner we use. I do not know what equipment they think we have access to here in India,” Anika added. 

Amir quit his job in Dubai, and returned to India in January to spent some time with his family after signing his job contract with a nursing home in Cavan. 

He planned to reunite with his fiance, who is already working in Ireland as a nurse in Cavan, as soon as his AWS came through. 

Months later, he is unemployed, and his wedding in Ireland has been cancelled. 

“I am the breadwinner in my family. I have to take care of my elderly parents – now I have no income coming in. I don’t know if I will make it to Ireland. My employer is reassuring me my job offer will not be retracted, but I have one friend who has been rejected five times and lost his offer, so I have concerns,” he said. 

So far this year, the Department of Justice has issued more AWS rejections than it did in all of last year. Of the 2,117 people who applied for the permit this year, 1,082 were rejected. 

The AWS is a work permit scheme that non-EU nurses who have been offered employment in Ireland have to secure. Once here, they have to pass an aptitude test through the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) to get registered to work as a nurse.

The test costs €2,800, and most employers, including the HSE, will only cover the costs if you pass. It is just one part of the often drawn out and expensive recruitment process migrant nurses go through to start work in Ireland. 

Even though this group of nurses have already gotten their overseas qualifications recognised, gone through initial checks with the Nursing and Midwifery board of Ireland (NMBI), and been selected and offered contracts to work in nursing homes and hospitals here, some are waiting over six months after facing multiple AWS permit rejections, and requests for further information from the Department of Justice. 

As the permit typically only lasts for six months, nurses do not typically apply for it until they have received a decision letter from the NMBI that approves them to sit the aptitude test or an adaptation programme. They also need to have signed a contract beforehand. 

They also need to have an English language qualification that was obtained within the last two years. 

This means that months of delays in obtaining an AWS permit has resulted in other qualifications timing out, and pushed back when nurses can start work in Ireland. Some have had their job offers revoked as a result. 

Previously, The Journal reported that nurses recruited by major Irish agencies also faced months of delays before they were allowed to start work once they arrived in the country.

ONIP also has concerns that they are seeing nurses get rejected for work permits because their agency has an issue with its WRC licensing. 

They have questioned how candidates can make it to the final stages of the process without any of the official bodies involved raising this issue. The panel has called for a list of licensed agencies to be added to the Department’s website to stop nurses being left vulnerable to “fraudulent activity” from unlicensed recruiters in India and Ireland. 

The Department of Justice told The Journal that it has made efforts so far this year to try and clear up issues with the AWS. 

“Extensive work to communicate with relevant stakeholders, including both public and private sector representatives, has been undertaken by the Department throughout 2023 to assist people complete their applications.

“Multiple training sessions have been held with employers, employer representative groups and key Government departments and agencies involved in nursing recruitment,”a spokesperson said. 

*The nurses interviewed by The Journal have been given alternative names as they had concerns on the impact speaking out could have on their employment prospects.