Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There goes the surprise.

It is a serious issue the Deputy is raising and I do appreciate that. We have significantly increased the level of supports to our student nurses. We did that, as she rightly said, arising from the debate around Covid and post Covid in respect of the very important role being played by student nurses. I do not have the specific figures in front of me but I think the level of support we are providing, through that subsistence, travel and other supports, has risen by several million over the past couple of years. We are happy, however, to engage further on this.

I would also make the point to student nurses that, of course, we have also done other things that will help them along with other students, whether that is reducing student fees, improving student grants, making nursing available in more parts of the country and in ways that work for more people, or extending the renter's tax credit to cover students as well. I am very happy to take a look at it. As we come into that election season, we need to acknowledge that a lot of other students are carrying out important placements as well. Nurses and student nurses are an extremely important group, but having some degree of a consistent approach to all the people playing an important role in our health service as students is something other professions mention to us regularly. I am happy to follow up.

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