‘ We’ll pay student nurses if review recommends it’
Health Minister’s promise on coronavirus work
STEPHEN Donnelly has promised he’ll open the Government purse to pay student nurses for Covid work if a review recommends it.
And the Health Minister said they could have the cash next month.
Currently only final year nurses get paid a salary for their work.
Opposition politicians have raised the issue in the Dail on three successive days.
The Irish Mirror has also thrown its weight behind the issue with our Pay Our Student Nurses campaign.
Mr Donnelly has promised that if a review of allowances recommends that extra cash should be paid, and if nursing unions are happy with the proposal, he will open the Government’s coffers in January.
He was responding to Sinn Fein health spokesman David Cullinane who had asked for clarity.
The minister said: “I have asked for a short, independent examination of the current travel and accommodation allowance in the context of Covid- 19. I also believe a longerterm review of allowances and the fourth- year student salary is necessary and I have committed to that.
“My department is engaging with the representative organisations on this matter and if they give their agreement for the review, my intention is that any recommended increase in allowances related to Covid- 19 would be in place in January, as requested by the representative bodies.”
Meanwhile, there was another row in the Dail over the issue when Sinn Fein deputy leader Pearse Doherty and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar clashed. Mr Doherty said: “In recent days the Taoiseach has sought to pit nurses against nurses by claiming that student nurses are being exploited by other nurses on hospital wards. That statement is simply not true. “The reality is that student nurses are plugging the
gaps ina health system that is under severe pressure. Student nurses do amazing work. “The Tan a is te has worked in hospitals and I am sure he has seen that at first hand. The IN MO is crystal clear on the issue. It notes that it is no use pitting nurses against nurses, whether they are in training or not.”
Mr Varadkar hit back accusing Mr Doherty of “letting emotions get in the way of facts”.
He added: “The motion in the Dail last week was party politics.
“It was non-binding. It was unfunded. If it had passed, it would not have been worth a single euro to a single student nurse.”