Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

I thank Deputy Kenny for those questions. We have commented on student nurses already in this hearing, but it is important to state that we strongly believe that they are being exploited. There is a shortage of nursing and midwifery grades. Student nurses are now rostered for the clinical placement part of their training. They are being used to fill gaps without pay. It is as simple as that. We strongly believe that payment is the very least they can expect. We do not advocate unpaid work for anybody in our health service. In the middle of a pandemic, when every other student in the country is being told to stay at home and take classes online, student nurses are being told to come in to work in these wards. Not only are they not paid for that period, but that work costs them money. Just like any other students, they usually have part-time jobs to supplement their incomes. Once employers hear that an applicant is a student nurse working in an acute hospital they do not want him or her. That is a secondary problem student nurses now face.

We do not want the situation in nursing to reach the point where these students have to leave. They simply cannot afford to pay for accommodation in cities like Dublin or Cork, where most of the training places are located. They work 12-hour shifts in many instances, with work expanding beyond the normal shift pattern. I can find no other word but "exploitation". We met representatives of the Department of Health last Friday and outlined these concerns. We have appealed to the Minister and we have appealed to the public to support the student nurses in their campaign to get proper remuneration for what can only be described as work.

The HSE figures indicate that 50 nurses are becoming infected each week. That requires a period of absence of 14 days at a minimum. Many nurses are telling us that the post-Covid-19 infection period can extend to 16, 17 or 18 days or even longer. That creates a huge gap in the roster. We must have proper occupational health facilities in place. I am not talking about a free counselling helpline or a text message asking nurses if they are okay. We are allowing health service staff who have been in close contact with patients to return to work if they are asymptomatic. We know too much about this virus to risk that. Not having a routine testing regime to accompany that policy creates a risk for others who come in contact with that person. We have to test in acute hospitals and ensure that we identify asymptomatic cases. We must provide greater protections, in the form of testing, for those who work in our acute hospitals.