Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is clear from the debate that Members right across the House share a gratitude and pay tribute to the student nurses and midwives and all their healthcare colleagues, who have provided and continue to provide care across the health service. All nursing and midwifery students, from first year to fourth year, have returned to full-time student capacity since the end of September. The final year interns will commence their 36-week clinical placements in accordance with the agreed pay and conditions of those placements. These students have agreed learning objectives to ensure that the final stages of learning remain supervised and supported. As the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, explained earlier, while Covid-19 remains a presence affecting all health services, so much more is known about the virus now than was known at the beginning of its first surge. This is clear in the number of Covid-19-positive patients who currently require acute hospital care. All healthcare workers have access to PPE. While Covid-19 remains a serious threat, the situation now is not as it was in March. This has affected the management and deployment of healthcare workers.

Irish nursing and midwifery graduates are in great demand nationwide and worldwide. A main reason for this is our four-year degree programme. The clinical placement in the fourth and final year of study focuses on the development of skills, knowledge and professional behaviours for our future nurse and midwife graduates. An important element of the clinical placement is the four hours per week during which the student reflects on his or her placement. There are many opportunities for graduate nurses and midwives to further their careers by way of further education programmes that will develop their skills and knowledge. Additional funding of €2.2 million will provide for additional advanced nurse practitioners and advanced midwife practitioners. The numbers employed in these grades are continuing to increase.

The nursing and midwifery career path in Ireland continues to evolve. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, outlined many of these developments earlier. The expert review on nursing and midwifery is expected to report in 2021. I am sure that the recommendations of this report will provide the future roadmap for the development of the nursing and midwife professions.

It is important that proper engagement remains between health sector management, the student nurses and midwives and their representatives. Covid-19 has an impact on how we all do our work, but this is particularly true of our student nurses and midwives and all our healthcare workers. Such engagement will assist in addressing concerns as they emerge.

I again commend the student nurses and midwives on the role they provided when the pandemic struck the State. The way in which all of us live our lives has changed. The pandemic has shown the importance of supporting the work to protect our student nurses and midwives and their graduate education.

I have listened intently since arriving in the past hour to every single contribution that has been made and it has struck me that every single Deputy has raised the annual retention fee for the nurses. This €100 is the annual retention fee for the professional register and is part of being a regulated professional. I have taken plenty of notes and I will bring those thoughts back to the Minister. As I said, every single Member I have heard has raised the issue of the registration fee and how the nurses feel it is unfair after the effort, the work and the commitment they have shown over the past seven or eight months and the fact that they have really put their shoulder to the wheel. I take on board every point that has been made and I will feed those points back to the Minister.

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