Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate and welcome all the supports that are available to the wider student body. However, we need a targeted bursary for student nurses, who have additional incidental costs that would not ordinarily apply to other students. It is not a case of one or the other. The supports that are in place are, of course, welcome and necessary, but we should always be open to adjusting or increasing them. This is one such instance in which we must accept and embrace the fact that student nurses in first, second and third year have additional costs and that existing supports do not cover them. These students will become the medical professionals we need in the future. While they are attaining their clinical experience and expertise as part of their studies, we cannot expect them, on €50 per week, to meet the travel and associated expenses arising out of the requirements of their placement.

The Minister of State suggested that we might bring this matter to the attention of the Department of Health but I ask him to explore, on an interdepartmental basis with the Department of Health, the introduction of a bursary in the interests of all the student nurses nationwide in their first, second and third year of training.

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