Sir, – I am writing to convey my extreme anger at the difficulty I have faced in returning to Ireland to work.
I qualified as a speech and language therapist in NUI Galway and I left for the UK six years ago, when there was a moratorium on hiring in the HSE.
I have waited six years for a job to come up near my home in Dublin. Recently, I have applied for, and gladly accepted a role in the HSE.
However, nothing prepared me for the red tape I have encountered in trying to return to take up this employment.
Between the HSE asking for evidence of my MMR vaccines, from 35 years ago, and CORU, which regulates health and social care professionals, claiming a possible 16-week wait to be deemed “fit for practice”, I am starting to wonder if Ireland cares enough about the people who were forced to leave and who are now trying to get back.
One State agency is holding up a job from another State agency. Céad míle fáilte rómhat go hÉireann! – Yours, etc,
LAURA TOBIN,
London,
England.