Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the middle of a pandemic we are facing into a crisis with the volume of nurses we are going to have. A report on student nurses has been lying on the desk of the Minister for Health. It was carried out by Sean McHugh. It has been there since August. When will it be published? The review looked at existing allowances to student nurses, the pandemic placement grant and pay for fourth-year nurses and midwives. Nurses who are qualifying and intending to emigrate have been in touch with me and my colleagues. They are going all over the world. There is a huge need for urgency on this issue. We have raised it on numerous occasions. We even put down a motion in the Seanad. Where is this report? Why is it being hidden? Why has it not been published and shared with the rest of us? When is the Government going to address this issue, given where we are at in the pandemic?

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