Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he is taking in conjunction with the HSE to increase levels of pay in the nursing sector; the steps being taken to increase the payscale for newly qualified nurses; and his views on whether current payscale rates are causing a large portion of graduates to seek employment overseas and thus denying hospitals here of highly trained personnel. [21367/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The recent Labour Court recommendations in relation to the nurses dispute and the new Enhanced Practice Nurse/Midwife contract will see the financial position of nurses and midwives improve and should help to both recruit and retain nurses in the public health service.   I welcome the fact that the the INMO membership voted 62% in favour of accepting these recommendations and the new contract.  

In relation to pay, the new Enhanced Practice Nurse and Midwife contract will deliver salary improvements for those that migrate to this new role range from between 2% - 11%.  The Enhanced Nurse / Midwife Practice salary scale ranges between €35,806 to €47,201.  The agreement will see improvements to a range of allowances, their extension to additional nurses and midwives, and a new allowance for those in medical surgical wards up to the maximum full year cost of €10m.  It also includes a commitment to increase the number of Advanced Nurse Practitioners to a minimum of 2% of the nursing workforce.

The HSE are currently working on a plan to deliver the implementation of the agreement.