Debated in Parliament on 1 Nov 2021.
Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Manpower what are the measures taken to ensure that there is a stable and predictable supply of migrant domestic workers to ensure that households are not unduly affected by rising costs due to a restrictive supply.
MOM recognises that there are still many families waiting for approval for their MDWs to enter Singapore, after the temporary tightening of entry approvals for migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in May 2021.
As the regional COVID-19 situation improves, MOM is able to give more entry approvals and has scheduled the entries postponed in May. From 15 October, we have opened up new applications for the entry of fully vaccinated MDWs, for entry from 1 November onwards. More MDWs will be able to enter Singapore in the coming months if the COVID-19 situation continues to stabilise locally and regionally.
Due to the high demand for entry approvals, we will continue to prioritise families with more urgent care needs. For those employers who are not successful in getting entry approvals within the immediate period, they may wish to access the portal in subsequent weeks for more entry approval slots.
MOM will also continue to facilitate the commercial programme by the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) (AEA(S)) to bring in more MDWs safely to meet the demand. AEA(S)’ pilot has benefited more than 1,000 families since its introduction. AEA(S) and its partner employment agencies will progressively expand the scheme according to demand.
In the longer term, MOM will continue to diversify the sources of MDWs for better resilience of MDW supply.
PAPERCUTS