Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending . I will discuss just one issue particularly close to my heart, which is student nurses. This issue has been raised at this committee previously, it was raised with the Minister last night and it has been raised in both Houses. I wrote to the Minister about this a couple weeks ago and I am still awaiting a reply. What would he say to a student nurse who is working for nothing in the health service to defeat the pandemic and struggling to afford her rent? What would he say to a student nurse as she is trying to make ends meet by working for free, who is beating back the pandemic, is exposing herself and her loved ones to infection and where her landlord is threatening to evict her because she cannot afford her sky-high rent? Would he tell her that she is being treated fairly? I note the Fianna Fáil tagline of an Ireland for all creating a more equal island. We can all agree that this is very unequal treatment.

We have an apprentice system in the country where trainee carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other tradespeople are paid more incrementally as they progress through their training. Can the Minister explain why he believes it is fair that trainee nurses are asked to work long hours in dangerous circumstances in the middle of the pandemic where health workers are the most likely profession to catch the virus for zero pay? The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, have said that due to the pressure on the system, student nurses are taking on an enormous burden and are really holding up our healthcare system at the moment.

How much would it cost to put in place a system for trainee nurses akin to that which exists for apprentices and what would that cost be as an overall fraction of the health budget? I am not asking for a figure now but when replying to my letter, I ask that the Minister might include those figures in it?

Two weeks ago, we had representatives from the INMO before us and they said that they hoped they would hear from him by the end of the week. It has been two weeks now. Has anything happened and has he engaged with the INMO? Where does that stand now?

Can the Minister explain why this Government is standing over a system of double standards, where apprentice tradespeople, which is a male-dominated sector, get paid for their work while trainee nurses, which is a female-dominated sector, are not paid at all?