Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the nurses in the Gallery. I am glad the Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, has joined us. For much of this debate we have had no Fine Gael Member in the Chamber. Deputy Donohoe is the person in charge of the money and it is good that he is here to hear what is being said.

Nurses provide an essential service in our communities. I am not going to repeat what others have stated. We have all had experiences in hospitals. We cannot overvalue the services nurses give to their communities. This dispute is about pay and working conditions, as a number of speakers have said already. The conditions that nurses have to work in are bringing great stress to their lives, which is a large part of their grievances. Unfortunately, the two major hospitals that service my constituency, namely, South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel and University Hospital Limerick, are two varying examples of this. I visited University Hospital Limerick last weekend. The crowded and cramped conditions staff are being asked to work in are unreal. Anyone coming out from visiting a patient there would be exhausted. Trying to work there for a long shift and dealing with the number of patients they have to deal with puts extreme pressure on those in this valued profession.

It is no good stating that the nurses' pay claim is going to give rise to other such claims across the public sector. The nurses have balloted for strike action. We have to face up to that and deal with it head on. The basis of their case is crystal clear: they are underpaid. We are failing to recruit nurses into the service. We are finding it very difficult to maintain staff. We have to address the issues that have been raised by the nurses.

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