Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Fáilte roimh an Aire. I welcome the Minister and thank him for all he, the Government and many other people are doing to keep us safe at this time. I know this is a very difficult time. It was Mary Harney who said that the worst day in government was better than the best day in opposition. I presume that still holds true in the Covid-19 era. It is a tough time for many people but there is, of course, some consolation, as Senator Ahearn just said, in the gradual dropping of the numbers. Sadly, the numbers are dropping slowly at the moment but at least they are going in the right direction.

I support the principle of this Bill. However, I want to add a word of caution about what I think the text of the Bill actually does. I completely support the idea that student nurses who were placed in hospitals during March, April and May of 2020 and again in the past eight weeks or so had a terrible baptism of fire which no student nurse before them was asked to face. Without a doubt, they picked up the huge amount of slack caused by the onslaught of cases of Covid-19 during those months. As a gesture of our thanks to them, they should certainly be entitled, and should have been entitled, to a generous gratuity of some description in recognition of their service to the sick at such a difficult time. As Senator Ahearn stated, they have also provided a service to the families of the sick. Having borrowed €14 billion to spend on all the consequences of Covid, it seems like the least that we could do. However, I would add a word of caution about the Bill. There are many people, across many sectors, who are in trainee positions for short periods, doing on-the-job training for no pay. That is considered to be a quid pro quoof sorts.In other words, the vocational training they receive is considered their pay, or a sort of benefit-in-kind. It is not cost-free for the employer since resources are used to train people, supervise them and so on. This is the case in hospitals and the stress on the system led to the cancellation of placements last month as hospitals could not provide more senior nursing staff to supervise people in training.

The Bill would designate all time worked by student nurses as working time for the purposes of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. Unless any other arrangements are made, they would be entitled to the same wages as healthcare assistants. Are we setting a precedent here that will be difficult to follow? Are there other sectors with a culture of unpaid placements, provided on the understanding that vocational training is given, where there might now be demands for pay? I support payments of some kind for student nurses but we need to be careful about enshrining new rights in law because of the possible knock-on effects. This may not be the way to go, although the intention is good.

I cannot understand the curious political detachment on the part of the Government regarding this issue. It is illustrated by the fact that, at the same time Ministers were resisting calls to pay even a pittance to students working for free in the health service, they were signing off on an €81,000 pay hike for the Secretary General of the Department of Health. The current Secretary General of another Department has effectively been installed in that position. How can that be justified? On what objective basis was such a huge pay hike agreed at this time? What does it say about the Government's priorities? Many people would think that €200,000 a year should be enough for any patriot.