Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not doubt there are nurses coming from overseas to work here. However, they are staying six months and then they are going on elsewhere. This has been said to me on more than one occasion by nurses' representatives because that is what they see in their workplace.

I welcome the fact that there will be a nursing commission. We need a commission along the lines of the previous one to address this issue.

I do not believe the Minister and the Government are doing enough to retain staff. A clear message needs to be sent to the staff that their work is valued. The feeling on the ground is that their work is not. There are people working in our health service who are under extreme pressure. They will tell the Minister that they are haemorrhaging staff left, right and centre. We do not make it any easier for them. It is taking months for staff to get full-time permanent contracts.

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