Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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373. To ask the Minister for Health his response to correspondence (details supplied) in relation to nursing students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52677/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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A key Government priority is to protect and support the education of all students, including student nurses and midwives. Undergraduate nursing and midwifery education programmes require students to undertake mandatory practice placements as a key requirement for the attainment of clinical competencies. These mandatory practice placements account for over 50% of the entire four-year undergraduate programme. Placement sites are chosen by the undergraduate programme provider to best support the student to acquire specific clinical competencies. The variances in the distance students are required to travel depends on the undergraduate programme the student is undertaking, the location of that programme and the availability of placements.

Practice placements for student nurses and midwives account for 81 weeks of the entire four-year undergraduate programme and students have a minimum of 4 hours protected time for reflection each week throughout the undergraduate programme. However, 36 weeks (internship) of these occur during the fourth year. The salary for student nurses and midwives on their final-year internship placement has increased and now stands at €23,416 (annualised) for general nursing and midwifery students and €23,911 (annualised) for psychiatric nursing students. The salary is reflective of the increased level of responsibility for care delivery that the internship period facilitates while remaining part of the students clinical learning requirement.

The remaining 45 weeks of mandatory supernumerary practice placements occur from year 1 of the programme right through to the first semester of year four. Student nurses and midwives are entitled to claim a reimbursement of necessarily incurred travel expenses while attending practice placements. The Deputy will be aware that, aside from being able to recoup travel cost incurred while attending practice placements, the Transport For Ireland (TFI) 90 Minute Fare has reduced to €1.00 for young adults (19-23) and students. This is a substantial reduction which benefits all students, including student nurses and midwives as they travel between home, college, and elsewhere. Some students require overnight accommodation away from their normal place of residence in order to attend some of their clinical placements. The current overnight accommodation allowance for students is capped at €100 per week, up from €50.79 per week which was the amount from 2004 until September 2021 (receipts are required).

On 4 November 2021, following the publication of Longer-Term Review of Matters relating to Student Nurses and Midwives, an independent review, conducted by Mr. Seán McHugh at my request (McHugh Report), I announced that the Government had approved my proposal to provide significant additional supports, worth €12m, for student nurses and midwives while attending their clinical placements. Among these temporary measures, I extended the Pandemic Placement Grant (PPG) of €100 per week to all eligible nursing and midwifery students on supernumerary placement to the end of the academic year 2021/22.

I also announced additional support to nursing and midwifery students who require overnight accommodation away from their normal place of residence in order to attend some of their clinical placements. I doubled the cap on the vouched accommodation allowance to €100 per week of placement. Student nurses and midwives (for Academic Year 2021/22) on paid internship placement received additional financial support (50% of the PPG: totalling to €1,800 for the academic year) for the duration of their internship, from 1 January 2022.

These additional supports arose following the publication of the McHugh report which set out a number of recommendations, including an enhanced Travel and Subsistence scheme for students while attending their supernumerary clinical placements. As this is a significant departure from the current position, I have committed to bringing a further proposal to Government setting out how to deal with this recommendation with effect from the start of the 2022/2023 academic year. Along with my Department I have considered a number of options in relation to this recommendation so that an enhanced scheme can shortly be put in place that will provide a targeted and more equitable approach to supporting students in undertaking their supernumerary clinical placements.