Filipinos in Ireland

Filipinos in Ireland
Ang mga Pilipino sa Irlanda
Total population
(12,791)
Regions with significant populations
Limerick, Dublin
Languages
English, Philippine languages
Religion
Majority Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Filipino people, 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] According to Census 2011, there are 12,791 people of Filipino origin living in the state.[3]

Migration history

Ireland began targeting the Philippines for recruitment of nurses in the late 1990s. From 2000 onwards, the Philippines was targeted as a major reservoir of nursing labour, and Ireland quickly became a major destination for Filipino nurses. By 2002 Ireland was the third largest importer of Filipino nurses, after Saudi Arabia and the UK.[4] 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 high cost of obtaining a work permit, Filipino nurses earned a net of 30% less than market-rate wages (after paying for the permit) during their first year on the job.[5]

Though workers from non-European Union countries could bring their spouses with them into Ireland, the spouses were barred from taking up employment. Filipinos, in conjunction with a variety of NGOs, began efforts to have this policy changed as early as 2002. The government altered the policy in February 2004—largely with the intent of retaining Filipino nurses, whom it was feared would otherwise migrate to other countries, such as the United Kingdom or Australia, which allowed spouses to work.[2][5] 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 2004 statement.[5]

In addition to nurses, roughly 2,000 Filipinos worked as caregivers in elderly care homes as of 2006; the Irish government offers training programmes enabling them to become nurses.[6]

The Philippines opened an embassy in Dublin in July 2009, but closed it three years later.[7][8] The Philippines is now represented in Ireland solely by an honorary consul.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Profile of the Filipino community in Ireland, London: Philippine Embassy, 2007, retrieved 2008-10-12
  2. 1 2 "Filipino workers here seek visa reform", The Irish Times, 15 April 2002, retrieved 2008-10-12
  3. ↑ Filipino population usually resident in the state, CSO, 2011, retrieved 2013-05-18
  4. ↑ Yeates, Nicola (Autumn 2006), "Changing Places: Ireland in the International Division of Reproductive Labour", Translocations: The Irish Migration, Race and Social Transformation Review, 1 (1).
  5. 1 2 3 Yeates, Nicola (2008), "Here to Stay? Migrant Health Care Workers in Ireland", in O'Connell, John, The International Migration of Health Care Workers, Routledge, pp. 66–73, ISBN 978-0-415-95623-9
  6. ↑ "Ireland pushes new policies to benefit Filipino caregivers", Philippine Headline News, 7 May 2006, retrieved 2008-10-12
  7. ↑ First Philippine resident ambassador to Ireland presents credentials to President Mary McAleese, Ireland: Embassy of the Philippines, 2009-06-29, retrieved 2010-05-14
  8. ↑ Notice re Embassy closure beginning 16 July 2012 (archived from the original on 2013-06-17).
  9. ↑ Philippine Consulate in Dublin » Appointment of Mark Christopher Congdon, as Honorary Consul of the Republic of the Philippines for Ireland

External links

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