Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Over the weekend, I heard a Minister talk on the radio about how we all need to be on team Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many young people, however, will feel that they have effectively been left off that team. The pandemic has impacted everyone but the disproportionate effect on young people has not been discussed properly. It has led to cancelled plans and deferred dreams and has caused increased isolation. Young people feel abandoned by the Government. Ministers seem to take hardly any interest in the issues affecting teenagers, young adults, renters and new parents. Of particular relevance to this generation is the absence of a meaningful mental health response to deal with the fallout of the pandemic but neither has there been any meaningful preparation to deal with the unemployment crisis which many young people will face after it. The hospitality and arts sectors are major employers for young people, especially in rural areas, but for almost a year now this vital source of not only income, but professional experience has been denied to them. This Government refuses to take young people into consideration. Instead, it lurches from crisis to crisis with no emphasis on, or empathy for, our young people.

The treatment of student nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, radiographers and others is a glaring example of the Government's utter indifference. It is proof of its disregard for the worth of young people. The Taoiseach has argued that student nurses should not get paid because, in fact, they should not have been working in the first place, when we all know that student nurses are on the front line of the front line. The same goes for midwives, therapists and other healthcare workers who are performing vital services for all of us, including the elderly and those in need of care.

This type of comment effectively gaslighted our student nurses by denying them the realities of their own experience. A Taoiseach who tells them that the work they are doing is not real work is deliberately and intentionally not listening, but it should not be a surprise because this is a Government which has effectively gaslighted an entire generation.

I come from the generation who came of age during the financial crash. We know what it is like to have our plans dashed and to see our neighbours, our friends and our loved ones scattered across the world. Every generation in Ireland has had to face an emigration crisis and every time, we as a country have lost the ideas, passion and energy of the young people who depart.

Even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the cracks had appeared. It is very clear that the Government expects young people to accept a standard of living which is not as good as their parents. It believes that they should expect no better than what is on offer, that perpetual renting and uncertain tenancy is a norm, that the precarity of the gig economy is a good thing and that childcare which is more expensive than a mortgage is acceptable. That is the gaslighting of a generation.

However, things are changing. Our young people want more than the Government is willing to offer. They want more than rounds of applause. They want a society where they can have a future. Will the Government condemn another generation to emigration, or will it take action? Will it agree today to pay the student nurses, midwives, therapists and others as workers? Will it take meaningful action to address the looming unemployment crisis? What will the Government do to ensure that our healthcare graduates, whom we need to run the health service, will get jobs here? Are we just training more staff for the British NHS, Canada, or Australia?

We need change. Young people are demanding change. The pandemic is a time for change. There is a growing sense of solidarity. Large numbers of people who are not student nurses support their cause. On issues we are now confronting as a society, such as mother and baby homes, direct provision and climate change, young people no longer want to see matters being brushed under the carpet, ignored or treated with indifference. This is the generation that is seeking justice, not just for themselves but for everybody. They are more connected, more passionate and more active. The Government would be wise to catch up. It should listen to the student nurses, midwives and others, who have so brilliantly driven this campaign, and pay them properly. The Government also needs to listen to leaving cert students, climate campaigners and new parents.

I previously outlined to the House some of the crucial work that our student nurses and midwives are doing on the front line. Today, I am saying to student radiologists, therapists, midwives and nurses that they do not need to prove themselves again. The case has been made, and they have made it crystal clear. If anyone sitting here today does not get it and does not support them, it is because they are choosing not to listen.

We are now back to where we were last March, and the Government needs to bring our student nurses and others who are working in hospitals back to where they were last March as a bare minimum. We need certainty for students in healthcare on their placements, and we need contracts as healthcare assistants for these students. I remind Ministers who are making tributes to the work of healthcare students that they cannot eat tributes, buy clothes with empty words or save up on empty platitudes.

I pay tribute to the nurses and other healthcare staff throughout the country who have campaigned, lobbied and fought for their rights. They have refused to be silent. They know their own worth and they know their own value. The Government needs to step up now, treat them not with platitudes but with respect, and pay them properly. Young people are watching the Government and its actions will be remembered. There is still time to do the right thing.

See this speech in context