Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to Sinn Féin for the opportunity to speak on this motion. Like many of our public sector staff, nurses and healthcare professionals have been badly hit in recent years. It is no surprise that many of our nurses are leaving Ireland to seek work abroad or are changing their career paths, given the working conditions and pay scales they experience. Despite the so-called economic recovery with which the Government claims to have been involved, nursing staff are certainly a cohort of our dedicated emergency staff that has not seen any of the recovery in terms of their salary. The FEMPI cuts that were forced on public sector staff have not yet been restored and are causing huge strain on our already struggling health system.

Another point I wish to raise is one that was raised on Facebook recently by a young student nurse. The brave student went viral after her heartfelt open letter to the Minister, Deputy Harris, was shared all around the country. She explained her struggle of living on less than €7 per week. She talked about nurses and new graduates forced to sleep in their cars due to the unaffordable rent across Ireland, while questioning why student nurses are working a 39 hour unpaid placement each week. Although officially student nurses are not counted as staff members on the wards, they are thoroughly relied upon to keep the health system going. It is no wonder that we are finding it difficult to recruit nurses if these are the conditions they are facing. I am pleading with the Minister of State and his Government to look at this issue. They must reverse FEMPI cuts for healthcare and all public sector workers, including newly-qualified teachers, who also face a two-tier pay scale.

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