Government's claims that student nurses don't do "real work" an insult - Hoey

Senator Annie Hoey has slammed Fianna Fail for saying that the reason they voted against a motion to pay student nurses and midwives is because they do not “real work.”

An irate Hoey describes the comments as “a slap in the face” to nurses who have put their lives on the line throughout this pandemic.

The Labour politician was reacting to the government’s decision yesterday to vote against a motion to pay student nurses and midwives.

The Solidarity-People Before Profit (PBP) motion was defeated by 77 votes to 72.

The motion called for the immediate reinstatement of the payment of student nurses and midwives who are in placements during the Covid-19 pandemic, among other measures.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party all voted against the motion, while opposition parties and groups supported it.

In a statement today on its Facebook page which has since been removed Fianna Fail defended their decision saying in part that:

“Medical students, trainee Gardaí and teacher trainees are not paid.

“Student nurses in their final year or pre –registration year are paid because they are different and do real work on wards that would not be done were it not for them.”

The explanation is “an insult” to student nurses across the country according to Hoey who said:

“Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and The Greens should be ashamed of themselves.

“Are they saying first, second and third year nurses are not doing real work when they are out on their training?

“Say that to a student nurse’s face during a global pandemic and then to say that teachers and Gardaí and medical students aren’t doing real work therefore they don’t get to get paid is absolute nonsense.

“Then to say that it would be unfair to agree to a Dail motion to pay student nurses and ignore student teachers and trainee Gards.

“Guess what you probably should pay trainee teachers and trainee Gards.”

“I think the reason that we don’t pay other people for their labour so we won’t pay them either is literally the worst excuse that I have ever heard in my entire life.”

The former Union of Students in Ireland President points out that it wasn’t long ago the government was praising all frontline workers but today say they don’t believe they deserve to be paid:

“The absolute neck of the government who were standing up in the Seanad, standing up in the Dail plaumausing and giving platitudes to healthcare professionals and standing at their front door during the first lockdown giving a good old clap.

“The nation would be lost without nurses and this what we are saying to them.

“How can they expect morale to remain up for student nurses. We did a survey a couple of years ago when I was in the USI and 93% of them said they were considering emigrating and I can only imagine it will increase with this.

“That is nearly every single student nurse considering leaving the country.

“Take common decency out of it, that is bad business to train student nurses at a cost of the state and for all of them to pack up and leave because we treat them like absolute rubbish at he beginning of their careers.

“We don’t have enough nurses in Ireland, student nurses are doing the work of full time nurses because we don’t have enough.”

Reform needs to come into play if our vocational professionals are to feel valued in their own country as the senator explains:

“It is no coincidence that vocations in Ireland like teaching and nursing that are predominately female are treated so poorly and are not paid.

“I cannot fathom how they could look a student nurse in the face and say we just don’t think you should be paid.

“This has a knock on impact on how they feel about nursing in Ireland and there is an array of research and evidence to show that treating people poorly at the beginning has a knock on affect for them for the rest of their lives.”