Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. I want to make sure I say as clearly as the Senator did that there is a huge "Thank you and congratulations" due to the higher education sector. We in this room can and do call for things but the amount of graft that has been undertaken in the last week in particular and over the past few months, has been incredible and I want to acknowledge that.

We are going to get the technological university for the south east done and we will work together. On asylum seekers, there was a huge amount work done by officials in my Department. The Irish Refugee Council have been calling for this. It is only a first step. On retrofitting, the Senator is right. We can be as ambitious as we want on retrofitting but we must also have the skills and he is also right to say we should practice what we preach and look at our own institutions.

On the insurance issue, my understanding is that arising from a court case this week, there is engagement, as we speak, with the sector representative bodies, with the Departments of Health and Justice and Equality as we seek to resolve the matter. The preferred objective is an outcome where the market operates to provide the necessary insurance cover at an acceptable price. This is a free market we live in and the insurance companies, in my view, need to help us here. There is engagement going on as we speak between my Department and the Departments of Health and Justice and Equality and I will keep the Senator updated on that.

On the student nurses and midwives, when I was in a previous role we were very clear that we offered people contracts as healthcare assistants and we reached an agreement with the educational institutions that this would be recognised as part of their educational attainment. In truth, the policy solution here does not lie within my Department but I have asked my Department to engage with the Department of Health on this issue. The HSE is the employer in most cases. It is entirely right and proper from a public health point of view that people say one cannot work in a hospital and then in a nursing home or anywhere else at the weekend for fear of spreading the virus. I get that.

Nevertheless, I understand the financial challenges, so my Department is actively engaging with the Department of Health. I am glad my office is being helpful. As soon as we have an outcome, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, or I will be back before the committee.