Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to speak in support of this motion. I know that the student nurses have been exploited to a large extent during this pandemic. They have had to work long shifts, some up to 13 hours a day, and have been exposed to traumatic scenes in the hospitals, including treating seriously ill patients and comforting the dying and their families. Despite all that, these student nurses were not paid.

Student nurses work amid a tsunami and are utterly under-resourced. Meanwhile, the Government has approved an €81,000 salary top-up for the new head of the Department of Health. Surely that extravagant increase could have been set aside for a number of years so that the Government could look after the student nurses first. It was reported that the Minister was bringing a proposal to Cabinet to pay GPs and pharmacists €60 per Covid vaccine administered. If this is the case, the total cost of the roll out of the vaccine to 1.5 million citizens via pharmacies and primary care centres would be a staggering €91 million. The €60 per dose payment is over 400% higher than the €14.15 paid per two shots administered in the UK. Why is the payment to GPs and pharmacists here four times higher here for exactly the same job? The point I am making here is that money can be found for everyone but the student nurses.

The abuse of these students continues right through their years of studying. I was contacted by a fourth year general nursing student who was due to start their internship recently. They told me that at the start of the pandemic, the Government increased the wage of nursing interns to €14.10 per hour, and rightly so. However, they were told recently that because the pandemic was apparently under control, their wages were being cut to €10.60 per hour. Good God, it is clear that the pandemic is far from under control at the moment. Even worse, these nurses were going to work in hospitals at the forefront of this crisis. They were appointed because many of the other nurses were absent due to Covid-related issues. It is only fair that they are paid the correct wage for putting themselves on the front line. These students are more than willing to play their part for the health service and the people. They are just looking for a fair wage for doing so.

The treatment of those at the forefront of our health service must be looked at closely. Those working in home help services in west Cork are calling door to door to look after those who desperately need help. These home helps, whether they are from Schull, Castletownbere, right through to Dunmanway, Clonakilty, Bandon or Ballinadee, need to be respected, by being offered the vaccine immediately, or they should at least know the exact date on which they will be offered the vaccine. At the moment, they go from door to door, putting themselves and the patients they care for so professionally at risk. I urge the Minister to let us know today in the House when these home helps are going to be offered the vaccine. They are probably as at risk as doctors and nurses, or even at greater risk, as they are on the move every day in carrying out their duties. The student nurses should be treated in a just and fair way when working on the front line during the Covid-19 pandemic. They should receive a just rate of pay per hour. The recommended rate of pay of €100 per week is nothing but an insult to them.

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