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

I will respond to some of the points made by the Minister of State, specifically his comments on the level of assaults on nursing staff. Every Deputy who contributed in the past two hours noted how valuable nursing and midwives are in the health system. It is a little insulting to these professionals to attribute an increase in the number of assaults on improvements in the recording system. Short staffing and unsafe working conditions are the causes of the increase in assaults. It has nothing to do with the way in which assaults are recorded. Nurses and midwives are not assaulted by a recording system but in their workplaces and the way in which assaults are calculated is immaterial to staff. I have met many nurses who have been a victim of an assault. They want to know that their employer is on their side rather than telling them how marvellous he or she is because the way in which assaults are recorded has been fixed. That is of no value or use to nurses and midwives.

The motion will pass because it has the support of the majority of Deputies and the Government has indicated it will not oppose it. The Minister for Health stated we should await the findings of the Public Service Pay Commission. I spoke many times about capacity and I was consistently told I should await the findings of the bed capacity review. The review found that a minimum of 2,500 beds will be needed in the system. These much needed additional beds cannot be opened unless we have sufficient staff in place. It is not good enough to argue we should wait for the Public Service Pay Commission to report or for another review to conclude. Graduate nurses and midwives will not wait and have already indicated they intend to leave the country.

With respect, the offer of a full-time job and permanent contract will remain deeply unattractive to nurses and midwives unless we tackle the issues of pay and working conditions. We will not be able to increase the number of beds in the system by 2,500 or recruit and retain the vital nursing staff we need unless pay is at the centre of the recruitment process. The Minister stated he would not oppose the motion. I would prefer him, as I am sure would our guests in the Public Gallery and the nurses and midwives outside the Chamber, to indicate the Government would support the motion and place pay at the centre of any recruitment and retention strategy. Without doing this, the offer of full-time employment is an offer of a job in a intolerable and unsafe workplace, which is unacceptable and not what we want for nurse graduates.

The Government hopes Brexit will save it. I doubt that will occur because many nurses move to the United States, Dubai, Australia and other far-flung destinations and they will not return. We must put pay at the centre of any recruitment and retention strategy because all the fine words uttered in this Chamber will not recruit a single nurse or midwife.

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