Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We have clapped and saluted our front-line workers who have been at the coalface of this war against Covid-19. The vocation of nursing is facing its greatest challenge but it is also having its finest hour. When we, as a society, have needed them the most, healthcare workers have been there for us. The members of the nursing profession have a long, illustrious history of caring not only for their own profession, but also for society as a whole. They have seen the terrible impact that Covid-19 has had on their colleagues. Thousands upon thousands of healthcare workers across the world have died looking after people like us and anyone who is watching this debate. The pandemic has taken a terrible toll, not only physically but also psychologically. Imagine being in an intensive care unit, wearing personal protective equipment, PPE, and holding the hand of a person in their final moments. It is truly amazing and touching to think about. We are indebted to the people who are there during others' final moments, because the person who is dying could be any of our mothers, fathers, brothers or sisters.

It was just over a year ago that nurses were compelled to go on strike over pay and conditions. Nurses should never have to go on strike but they did for a number of reasons. It was not only for the sake of their own profession but related to wider aspects and the bigger picture of our health service and the direction it has taken. They were fighting for their profession, the retention of staff, pay and conditions, and all that goes with those things. These are the kinds of substantial questions about which we talk. Last year, more than 5,000 leaving certificate students showed their first preference was to study nursing and midwifery. There is an oversubscription of applicants who want to go into nursing. We are today raising the issue of what happens at the end of that process.

I know many student nurses because I have worked with many of them and have a lot of good friends who are nurses. They say that they love their job but are burnt out by the nature of the work and the way they are treated. That is particularly true of student nurses in their undergraduate years. They feel used and, in the words of the INMO, they feel exploited by what they have to do in wards. They recognise that they were given equivalent rates of pay to healthcare assistants, HCAs, in April and May but that has since been withdrawn for no good reason and even though they are obviously doing exactly the same work. That needs to be reviewed in a substantial way.

The Minister has spoken about placements and education training. Nurses are, of course, on wards and training but they also have to live. Pay of €50 per week is a pittance, and in the bigger picture, this is quite a wealthy country. We should have nurses who qualify and do not then feel compelled to emigrate. Some people might want to go to other countries after they graduate. However, a substantial number of nurses want to stay in this country but feel so burnt out after four years that they do not want to stay anymore. If even 50% of those nurses who go abroad were to stay in this country, there would not be a shortage of nurses here. There is, in fact, a worldwide shortage of nurses. We have to examine that. Why are student nurses and doctors leaving the State after being trained? They want to stay here but are compelled to leave. Covid-19 will be gone eventually, and when it is, we need to look deeply into why the medical professionals in this country want to emigrate once they are trained.

There are matters of legacy here for society and the Government. The lesson to be learned about student nurses is that health should be put before wealth. The legacy of student nurses is about remuneration, respect and retention. Those are the important three words. If we can concentrate on them, we can hold on to our nurses at a time when this Government and society need them the most.

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