Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Senator could have kept talking. I welcome the Minister and commend Senator Hoey on her work in respect of this issue. I welcome the Bill being brought forward by the Labour Party. We have heard today that the exploitation of our student nurses and midwives is absolutely scandalous. They are filling vital roles in a healthcare system that has been deprived of resources and chronically understaffed for years. During the pandemic, more than 4,000 students have been working on the front line. The work they are undertaking is incredibly dangerous. It is no exaggeration to say that they are literally risking their lives to protect every one of us. Not only are they not paid to do so, but they are asked to pay €3,000 to €7,500 for the privilege. It is an insult and it comes as no surprise that 71% of student nurses are considering leaving the country. A close friend of mine whose daughter is a student nurse was distraught during the first wave as she watched her daughter come home exhausted every evening, crying her eyes out at the despair she was witnessing in the hospitals.Last month, the Dáil passed a Sinn Féin motion calling on the Government to publish the Collins report on pandemic pay for student nurses and midwives. We know that the scale of the pressure on the health service has utterly changed since the beginning of the year and the fact that there has been no movement on this matter is shocking. Students are constantly met with a wall of delays and excuses.

As others have stated, we should judge a person by his or her actions over his or her words. From the Government's actions in recent months, it is very clear where its priorities lie. The fact that the Government has not acted to pay student nurses but has acted to increase the pay of Members of the Oireachtas and to pay obscene salary increases to Ministers, as well as to the senior management of the Department, has not gone unnoticed by the public. It tells people everything they need to know about what the Government really thinks of working people.

This is an issue that should not divide us. It is an issue on which this House should be united. We have heard from Members on all sides about the wonderful work student nurses and midwives are doing and that of course they should be paid but as I stated, actions speak louder than words. We need to do what is right. The Minister must right the wrong here and pay student nurses and midwives reasonable and fair rates of pay and allowances.