Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I do not have the directive to hand and have no doubt that what the Minister of State has read out is correct. The point is, however, that it was something which could come up in the consultation process with the social partners but never did. It was never discussed on this island prior to putting together this legislation and no argument was made to the social partners. I heard what the Minister of State said about the Department of Health and Children which may have a good argument as to the reason trainee nurses should be excluded but I would like to know what it is. What answer do we give to those who ask us the reason nurses in training are excluded? Nurses in training are different from many other groups; they are doing comparable work on wards with trained staff. It seems unfair that they should be excluded from any protection afforded under the Bill, unless we are missing something. If so, fair enough. As I am not an expert in this area, perhaps there is an issue about which we need to know. The Minister of State has told us that the Department of Health and Children did not want nurses in training included but did it make a substantial, enduring and convincing argument? If it did, perhaps we could hear what it is.