Ms Anne O'Connor:

It is a very complicated issue. We have so many students in training. I am an occupational therapist myself and I trained in clinical placements. It is what all clinicians have done. As the Senator rightly said, there are many healthcare workers in training across our system. That is a very significant investment by the State in terms of paying students for their education. It is clinical training. Students have certain rules and responsibilities that are restricted in line with their experience and level of training. There are many medical students who work, particularly in the last year or two of their training, and provide critical service. In terms of whether they should be paid, I do not know. There are many students, and I presume there are many outside the healthcare sector, who would feel that they play a vital role and indeed they do but the decision in terms of payment is one that, unfortunately, is larger than the HSE because of the implications and ramifications across sectors. This is a discussion that is already taking place with the Department of Health and needs to take place at a wider cross-sectoral level.