Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his answer. I will provide him with the information I have. Again, we are hearing, in regard to student nurses, that something should not be happening. It should not be happening that they are not getting paid for work they are doing. It should not be happening that they are working instead of studying. It should not be happening that they are not supervised. It should not be happening that they are working instead of learning. However, all of those things are happening. I totally get that workers who work on the front line need to be protected from the flu, but the problem is that they are being asked to pay for it. I will send the Minister the information on that.

Maybe the problem is that they are not defined as workers when they are working. The Minister's reply referred, at the end, to all students, but it also referred to those working in the health sector. At the very least, we need to recognise that student nurses are actually working and we need an assurance that this will not happen in the future. I ask the Minister to clarify that it will not happen. I will give him the information I have.

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