Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that student nurses are going to want to know what the plan is quite soon. We will get that information out as soon as possible. The placement of student nurses was suspended because, as the Deputy knows, student nurses have to be supervised and tutored. Suspending those placements freed up hundreds of fully-qualified nurses to look after patients and that was the priority. A decision will be made shortly as to whether those placements can be reinstated.

Obviously, the hospitals will need to be less busy for us to be in a position to restore students. The Deputy will be aware that the issue of allowances, pay and so on is ongoing. There will be engagement with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, and SIPTU about that

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