Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Cullinane for bringing forward the motion. It is timely and important. It is a motion about fairness and equality, about a decent day's pay for a decent day's work, but most of all it is about recognition and respect.

Student nurses will forgive me for using my time to speak on behalf of their front-line colleagues in the laboratory, medical scientists, because like student nurses, all nurses, public health doctors and so many across the health service, medical scientists are knocking at the Minister for Health's door and at the door of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, looking for recognition and respect. Medical scientists have performed heroics during Covid-19 and they have done it while delivering an uninterrupted routine and emergency service 24-7, 365 days a year. Despite this heroic effort, a headline in the media less than a week ago announced the threat of strike action from this group of workers. The chairperson of their union said the last thing any medical scientist wants is to be forced into this situation.

Laboratory services are hanging on by a thread. Medical scientists want recognition of their qualification, ability and contribution. I outlined this to the Minister before. All have degrees and many have masters degrees as standard. Others go further and do PhDs or take the fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, FRC, path, largely for their own personal development. The truth is that the Department of Health, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and their respective Ministers ensure a glass ceiling is imposed. Fifteen years into a 40-year career, they say a person can go no further. There is no opportunity for career progression and, as a result, significant potential goes untapped. While colleagues in Britain and elsewhere are taking on senior clinical and academic responsibilities up to and including consultant grade, medical scientists here are stymied. To add insult to injury, medical scientists have lived with the disrespect of pay inequality for decades. They work side by side doing the exact same work as clinical biochemists but are paid less. We wonder why we have a recruitment and retention crisis and the threat of strike action. There is major opportunity here.

There is significant investment by the State in the public health service but we are not using it wisely. We have the equipment and the technology, but most of all we have the people, to be a world leader in medical and biomedical research and practice. We have scientists champing at the bit to take on advanced clinical roles, but the Government and departmental bureaucracy stops them in their tracks. I urge the Minister not to look this gift horse in the mouth and to grasp the opportunity, engage and address the needs of medical scientists.

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