Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Hoey for tabling this Bill. Given the Senator's years of dedication to student politics with the Union of Students in Ireland, it is appropriate that it would be a students' pay Bill she would bring to the House as, hopefully, the first of many Bills she will bring to the Houses of the Oireachtas.I also welcome the Minister to the House. He is doing a very difficult job. I have no doubt that he is putting every hour he can find or muster into his role in dealing with the pandemic. To be fair, I believe he appreciates the enormous commitment of student nurses during this pandemic. It is my considered view that we would be lost without them because they stepped up to the plate and played a significant role. They did it willingly and there was no issue. They were quite happy to do it. It is appropriate that they were paid for this work. It is my view that they should continue to be paid when they are working. They have been working and, I have no doubt, will be working during the course of this pandemic. That is appropriate.

Professor Tom Collins was hired to carry out a short snappy review. He probably had to complete it too quickly to come to an overall considered view but pandemics move fast and the Minister needed a body of opinion. Professor Collins gave a view although it was not universally accepted. It was, however, a good starting point.

I wish this Bill well. Like most Private Members' Bills that come before the House, it is once it passes Second Stage that the real work starts. That is when engagement starts and when the discussions and collaborations take place. Everybody in this House wants a resolution to this issue. The Bill provides a framework for finding such a resolution. I know the Minister's officials are very busy at the moment but perhaps they might be able to find time to engage with Senator Hoey and her researchers to find common ground so we can continue in the spirit of not dividing on such an important issue.

We need to have a conversation about the overall working conditions of nurses, midwives, student nurses and other people who work in the healthcare profession over the coming months and years. I stay in a hotel in Dublin when I am up in the city and a number of nurses stay in the same hotel. The difference is that they are living there. They are doing so for safety reasons. They are away from their families and away from normal life. They are dedicating themselves to remaining safe and in a position to work. They are defining and designing their off time around that goal. It is easy to forget how lonely it can be for some of these people living in a hotel on their days off when they are not working. It is not the most pleasant environment.

The healthcare workers in the health system have also gone above and beyond the call of duty in providing essential services. The people who clean the hospitals have an absolutely critical role to play, a role they have been playing for a long time and particularly during this pandemic. The porters have also played a very important role. The whole healthcare community has been elevated significantly in the public's admiration. That now needs to be reflected in better working conditions. The last thing we want to see is nurses qualifying in this country and then taking flight to Australia and other countries. Every young person wants to travel and it is good for them that they do so, but we want them to come back within a reasonable period and not just as a pandemic descends upon us and we run campaigns around the world begging them to come home. They should want to come home. They should feel they are respected, wanted and appreciated. That is something everybody wants in life but, sadly, it has not been the case. The other major issue relates to overcrowding in accident and emergency units and so on.It is not just pay, which is important, but working conditions as well.

When the Minister gets a chance perhaps he would update us on where we are with the 90-bed modular unit for University Hospital Limerick. I know it is in the capital plan but perhaps there is a timeline. I do not expect him to have the answer today but he might communicate with me in writing and provide me with an update. Some capital projects are in the programme for Government. They are recognised by all parties as being critical and we should fast-track them.

I wish the Bill every success. It is very timely. I look forward to discussing it again when we move on to Committee Stage.