Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In answering Deputy Adams's question, I made the point that officials from the Department of Health met nurses last week and the Minister met them just an hour ago. Yesterday, officials from the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform met to see if this matter could be expedited. I remind Deputies that incremental credit for the 36-week clinical placement undertaken by fourth year student nurses was abolished by the then Government in December 2010. Following submissions made on behalf of the nursing representative bodies, namely, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the Psychiatric Nurses Association of Ireland and SIPTU, the Department of Health and Health Service Executive, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, on 19 February 2016, sanctioned recognition of the 36-week placement as qualifying for incremental credit for students on a placement in 2016 and in future. This was an agreement to restore the payment.

The sanction stated that the question of awarding incremental credit for the placement of nurses who graduated between 2011 and 2015 may be reviewed on foot of a consideration of whether the sanction granted in respect of 2016 graduates and future graduates results in an increase in the retention rates for the graduate nurses in question. Nurses who undertook the placement in 2016 recently completed their placements and are only now in the process of registering. It will not, therefore, be evident for some time as to its impact.

A number of initiatives are under way to improve nursing staff levels and, as Deputies know, nurses are coming back from abroad. The Health Service Executive is offering permanent posts to 2016 degree nursing programme graduates and full-time permanent contracts to those in temporary posts. These are both important incentives. The HSE also launched an international staff nurse recruitment campaign last year, which focused on attracting nurses back from the United Kingdom to take up jobs in Ireland. The campaign placed particular emphasis on targeting Irish nurses who left the country in recent years and want to return home. Nurses returning home were offered a relocation package of assistance of €1,500, assistance with the costs of nursing registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and funded postgraduate education as an incentive.

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