Nurses leaving Ireland due lack of accommodation, says Cork union representative

A lack of suitable accommodation means that nurses recruited from overseas, at a cost of €20,000 each, are leaving Ireland as soon as their contracts allow, a Cork union spokesperson has claimed.

Janet Baby Joseph, a representative with the Cork branch of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), told The Echo that the housing crisis is having a knock-on negative impact on retention of nursing recruits.

The HSE is hiring international nurses through recruitment agencies at a cost of approximately €11,000 each, with additional costs for orientation and initial accommodation assistance understood to bring the total expenditure close to €20,000 each.

Ms Baby Joseph said a lack of suitable accommodation close to their workplaces means many of those international recruits are leaving Ireland once their two-year contracts are complete.

No secure place to live

“People are leaving the country because there is no secure and safe place to live, they are emigrating to other countries,” she said.

“For an immigrant nurse to come into Ireland, the Government is spending loads of money.”

“For all the nurses coming here, for the training, the resources, all of that is provided, and in two years’ time, they are leaving the country, and two years is because they have a contract, otherwise they would leave even before that,” said Ms Baby Joseph.

“They are migrating to Australia and New Zealand and other countries mainly because of the accommodation issues.”

Rally

Ms Baby Joseph was speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s planned Raise the Roof housing rally, which is being organised by a coalition of trade unions and opposition parties, and is planned to take place at lunchtime in the city centre.

She said: “Shelter is a basic need for every human being, and for 10 years we are crying for that basic need, shelter has to be provided for any human being, it is a basic need like air and food.

“The newly qualified nurses, those trained in Ireland and immigrant nurses, all of them are finding it hard to get a place to live near their workplaces, [in some cases it is] an hour and a half or two away from their workplaces.

“After working 12 or more hours, having to drive for an hour and a half or two, it’s actually dangerous, it’s not safe, especially after a night shift.”

Research

The INMO said its research shows young nurses and midwives can spend up to 77% of their take-home pay each month on rent in cities like Dublin and Cork.

“We have families with kids, how are we supposed to be living?” said Ms Baby Joseph. “There are families of four with the dad, mum and children living in one room. That’s not safe, that’s not good for the mental health of the kids either.

“For a developed country, we have a health sector that is not functioning properly, with a shortage of hospital beds, a shortage of staff and then no accommodation."

“I can’t tell my Indian friends that Ireland is a great place to come to, it’s not right, the whole thing is a vicious circle."

The HSE was asked for comment.