Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The vicious attack on three young children and their care worker last Thursday night was horrific. It was beyond every parent's worst nightmare and our thoughts are with the children, the woman who was attacked and their families.

As Minister for Health, I thank our health workers for what they did to care for the victims of Thursday's attack. Even for those who are used to treating very serious injuries in our hospitals, such as those I met in the emergency departments and intensive care units in the Temple Street and Mater hospitals yesterday, Thursday was a very difficult day. It was made more difficult by the vicious and racist response from some on Thursday night. Our own healthcare workers were worried about leaving our hospitals. They were worried about our hospitals being targeted. I thank the gardaí for everything they do to protect our healthcare workers and healthcare facilities. Many healthcare workers yesterday expressed their deep gratitude for the response from the Garda.

To those who would take to the streets chanting racist slogans, I say that half of our nurses are trained abroad.

Two in every five of our doctors are not from Ireland. In Temple Street, where the children were cared for, we have healthcare workers from 65 countries. Ireland is one of those 65 countries, along with Sudan, Ghana, Thailand, India, Brazil, Iran, South Africa, Malawi, Palestine; the list goes on and on and on. To every one of our international healthcare workers I want to say very clearly to you, that you are welcome in Ireland, you are valued in Ireland and we are damn lucky to have you.

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