Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

As I said, we surveyed our members in the past month. They are very concerned about the infection rate among healthcare workers and, in particular, they are concerned about the infection rate in nursing as it reduces their rosters. The infection rate is unacceptably high and nurses believe additional measures must be put in place, mainly that the Health and Safety Authority must have jurisdiction. We were very happy to see that recommendation from the Covid-19 committee. We request that this committee would reinforce that recommendation and amend the regulation to allow Covid-19 to be classified as an occupational injury. It is central to the protection of workers in these environments.

Everybody knows Covid-19 is extraordinarily infectious but imagine working with personal protective equipment for lengthy shifts and not being able to get relief because staffing levels are so low. According to the WHO, fatigue is one of the main problems when it comes to additional exposure to the virus. In other words, a person is more vulnerable if he or she is fatigued.

Our members have said to us they are reflecting on their future careers and 70% have said they have thought about leaving, with 60% actively thinking about it. It is very serious. We want to encourage nurses to stay working in the health service and we do not want this experience to be such that it is really difficult to work in these circumstances right now. We do not want them to feel they have to change career. We want the employer and the Government to support them. We want to ensure whatever it takes is there so that when they are working in these dangerous and high-risk environments, they can be protected.