Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The recruitment and retention crisis is very real. That is evident when one talks to front-line staff, people the Taoiseach blamed for causing the trolley crisis over the Christmas period. I am sure he got the wake-up call from all their tweets as they posted pictures of them working on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. The reality is that this is a very real crisis. There are 1,754 fewer staff nurses in our hospitals than was the case a decade ago. This is despite the fact that we have an ageing population. Some 71% of students who are going through midwifery and nursing training state that they are considering emigrating. The reality is that 60% of nurses recruited in 2017 were migrants. The reality is that nurses and midwives are not paid enough for the work that they do, the pressures they are under and the care they provide. What we need is a pay deal. We need the Taoiseach to give effect to the motion Sinn Féin put forward that was supported in the House last April, which was to deal with this issue and to deal with the pay constraints on nurses-----

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