Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha and the other nurses' representatives to the Gallery. On behalf of the public I thank nurses for their Trojan work.

It is reflective of the Government's priorities that we find ourselves this evening debating another instance of pay parity in the public sector. I regularly come across nurses in my constituency of Cork South-West - indeed many of my closest friends are nurses. We all know how hard they work and the great responsibility on their shoulders. It is unacceptable that they have to take such drastic measures just to ensure their pay scale is in line with comparable colleagues.

There was great hope for the findings of the Public Service Pay Commission. I knew the unions, particularly the INMO, were hoping that the commission would reflect their plight. However, it is quite disconcerting that the unions were not engaged at all in any pay-review exercise. In fact, they were precluded from even recommending pay rises. In addition the commission made no reference to a crisis in the recruitment and retention of staff and other comparable medical professionals. That is not to mention the disparity between them and other front-line staff, which really makes them feel undervalued. Fair play is being requested and I sincerely believe that pay parity is the least these health professionals deserve. I cannot understand these findings when it comes to the well documented severe staff shortages in areas such as the child and adolescent mental health services. That such services need to rely so heavily on agency staff is indicative of the staff-shortage crisis. I ask the Minister to please support the nurses.

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