Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health if he will adjust the proposal to cut graduate nurses wages by 20% in view of the fact that nurses are already one of the lower paid medical professions and graduate nurses will be carrying out the same duty as those on a higher scale; the reason the Health Service Executive has now advised all local managers, by circular of the 14 December 2012, to immediately discontinue all existing contracts already in place for 2012 graduates;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3773/13]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health if he will address the concerns raised in correspondence (details supplied) regarding the graduate initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3832/13]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Health the bench marking analysis undertaken in relation to the Health Service Executive’s current graduate nurse/midwife recruitment scheme to arrive at the new starting salary of €22,000 per annum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4217/13]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Health his views on whether the proposal to take on one thousand nurses at a reduced pay rate has been a failure and has been exposed as being completely unfair, unworkable, and that the places offered will not be taken up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4377/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 654, 662, 695 and 723 together.

Under the Initiative, graduate nurses and midwives will be recruited on two-year contracts and will be paid 80% of the first point of the Staff Nurse Scale. They will also qualify for premium payments and allowances on a pro rata basis, bringing expected average pay to approximately €25,000 per year, excluding overtime. The initiative will enable them to gain valuable work experience and development opportunities post-graduation.

The employment of graduates in a specific graduate scheme is a widespread practice in other sectors of the economy. The salary level was set having regard to the norms for such programmes and the need to achieve significant savings on nurse agency and overtime expenditure. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has also agreed that participants in this initiative will not be counted for the purposes of the Health Sector Employment Ceiling. The initiative therefore provides a valuable opportunity for a substantial number of recently-qualified nurses and midwives to work in Ireland at a time when job opportunities in the public service are, regrettably, very limited.

A proportion of graduate nurses and midwives were employed on temporary, time-limited contracts in autumn 2012 to cover the period between the end of their Fourth-Year 36-week clinical placement and the commencement in January 2013 of the clinical placements of the next cohort of Fourth-Year students. Such contracts are not intended to be of long duration. In line with existing practice and the need strictly to control staffing costs and headcount, hospital management have been advised by the HSE that these contracts should not be continued beyond January 2013.