Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the draft public service agreement and the clarifications that will be required in the weeks before workers vote, will the Minister comment further on the pay equalisation issue as it relates to nurses? It appears the Government is already dealing with the latter in respect of teachers. Everyone accepts that the largest number of agency workers in the public service is to be found among nurses. If the Government were to put in place a proper rate of starting pay, it could fill the 1,000 nursing places which have been offered but which have not been filled as a result of the relevant 20% pay cut. If 1,000 additional staff were taken on at a proper rate of pay, this would substantially reduce the bill for agency nurses.

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