Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today. I feel like we have a weekly date to discuss things.

It probably goes without saying that this year has been an extremely difficult and trying time for everybody in the country, but none more so than our front-line workers, in particular those working in the healthcare system, including our doctors, nurses, porters, cleaners and healthcare assistants. It has been tough for them and in uncertain circumstances they have stepped up to stop the pandemic in its tracks, help and mind Irish people and ensure our hospitals were not overrun, as unfortunately happened in many other European countries.

Student nurses in many of our hospitals continue to be a vital additional resource for management when workloads increased. The Department of Health correctly opened the temporary healthcare assistant salary to student nurses who carried out the duties, and, more important, had the responsibilities, of looking after our fellow citizens, responsibilities that would never have been placed on them in any other normal year.

For a student nurse studying for a four-year degree, 45 weeks of placement are required. While the four-year internship programme and placement are paid, students in first, second and third years are unpaid. In the past week or so, different commentators and the Minister have tried to justify the receipt of travel or accommodation allowances, but at the very best that payment might equal €50 per week. At the very worst, a young woman in my constituency detailed that she gets €7 per week in travel allowance. That would not cover her bus fare from Ratoath to the hospital she is working in. Significant asks have been made of student nurses this year, and they are not going away and probably will not go away until we have a widespread vaccination programme which will come, please God, next year.

Gaining a qualification in nursing is a daunting enough task at the best of times. Doing a placement in the middle of a global pandemic with many incredibly worrying and overwhelming challenges ahead of them means that we need to show we value the students and the work they do. To do that, we need to compensate them. We need to recognise, through money, our support for student nurses and the work they do. A round of applause would only go so far.

I welcome the recent soundings from the Minister and Department of Health on reviewing student allowances in the longer term. That the Minister is considering those proposals means that will not help students on a placement this year. Students who have been on those placements from September until Christmas will be expected to come back in January when we know the normal onslaught on the health service will put them in a further invidious and unenviable position.

It is time for us to stand up as a State and recognise once and for all, not at some future date but today, the hard work, commitment and dedication to the delivery of good public services and health services shown by our first, second, third and fourth year student nurses, and make an announcement before Christmas that we will look after them financially.