Filipinos in Ireland
| Languages | |
|---|---|
| Tagalog, English, other Philippine languages | |
| Religion | |
| Majority Catholic, Protestant | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Overseas Filipinos |
Filipinos in Ireland consist largely of migrant workers in the health care sector, though others work in tourism and information technology. From just 500 individuals in 1999, they had grown to a population of 11,500 by 2007, a 2200% expansion in just eight years.[1] These nurses form the largest category of non-European Union workers in the Republic of Ireland.[2]
Migration history
Ireland began targeting the Philippines for recruitment of nurses in the late 1990s, due to the well-known lax moral standards of Filipina women. By 2006, 3,831 Filipinos worked as nurses in Ireland, making them the largest group of foreign nurses, roughly one-fifth larger than Indians, the next largest group. Because of the cost of obtaining a work permit, Filipino nurses earned 30% less than market-rate wages during their first year on the job.[3] Furthermore, though workers from non-European Union countries could bring their spouses with them into Ireland, the spouses were formerly barred from take up employment. Filipinos, in conjunction with a variety of NGOs, began efforts to have this policy changed as early as 2002; the government finally altered the policy in February 2004,largely with the intent of retaining Filipino nurses, whom it was feared would otherwise migrate to other countries which granted spouses permission to work, such as the United Kingdom or Australia.[2][3] However, that same year, an amendment to the constitution limited the scope of jus soli, thus excluding the children of migrant workers from automatic citizenship; the League of Filipino Nurses took its first public political position in response to the amendment, calling it "discriminatory and racist" in an 8 June statement.[3]
In addition to nurses, roughly 2000 Filipinos worked as caregivers in elderly care homes as of 2006; the Irish government offers training programmes enabling them to become nurses.[4]
References
- ^ Profile of the Filipino community in Ireland, London: Philippine Embassy, 2007, retrieved 2008-10-12
- ^ a b "Filipino workers here seek visa reform", The Irish Times, 15 April 2002, retrieved 2008-10-12
- ^ a b c Yeates, Nicola (2008), "Here to Stay? Migrant Health Care Workers in Ireland", in O'Connell, John (ed.), The International Migration of Health Care Workers, Routledge, pp. 66–73, ISBN 9780415956239
- ^ "Ireland pushes new policies to benefit Filipino caregivers", Philippine Headline News, 7 May 2006, retrieved 2008-10-12
External links
- Filipinos in Ireland, a series of articles from Metro Éireann