Government under fire for approving pay hike for judges but not for nurses
The Lou Promises Sinn President In Mcdonald To Of Government Féin Accused Those File Breaking Picture On Placement Hospitals Mary
The Government has come under fire for agreeing to wage increases for judges while refusing to pay student nurses.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald hit out at Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Dáil accusing him of breaking his promises to those on placement in hospitals.
"Last Wednesday, your government voted against paying student nurses and midwives, you then justified this decision by saying that they don't get paid because they don't do real work.
"We're standing here today talking about student nurses working without pay on the same day that you will increase pay for super junior ministers and judges.
"These aren't normal times the ask of student nurses is always incredible, but it is extraordinary during a pandemic," she said.
Mary Lou sharing the personal stories of student nurses and midwives with the Taoiseach.
— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) December 8, 2020
They deserve to be paid and paid properly. pic.twitter.com/NcVkCnJb0k
Ms McDonald shared some of the messages she had received from student nurses, including one from 'Rebecca' who she said "lives at home, unable to afford student housing and she comes home every night from work fearful that she has contracted the virus and could pass it on to her immuno-compromised dad."
Sinead, another student nurse, detailed how she has sat with women who are crying because their baby has been feeding all night. "We are the ones who hold their hands and tell them everything will be ok. We are the ones who cry with them," Ms McDonald told the Dáil on her behalf.
But the Taoiseach claimed Sinn Féin and others are trying to politicise the issue.
He said the shift from an apprenticeship model of nurse education to a degree model was a fundamental transformation which had been sought by the nursing profession and unions.
"This debate has been very much politicised and characterised by short-termism.
"Essentially, what the deputy is saying is that we should return to the apprenticeship model. I do not believe that is a good idea."
Mr Martin said the education of student nurses should be protected adding that any exploitation would not be tolerated by the Government.
He said:
Mr Martin added: "At the heart of this is the question of whether we now want to protect the learning experience of nurses under the degree programme or allow ourselves to drift back to yesteryear, to 20-odd years ago and preceding decades, or to the apprenticeship model, which was not ideal at all for student nurses and which led to repeated calls for modernisation."
Meanwhile, Labour leader Alan Kelly has called on all TDs, senators and MEPs to sign a pledge to publicly support the Covid-19 vaccination in a bid to tackle false information.
Mr Martin told the Dáil that he would be happy to sign the pledge adding that "common good has to prevail".
The Taoiseach said: "I take the Deputy's proposal on board as one that is designed to try to increase participation rates in terms of the vaccines to make sure that we get herd immunity and can eliminate this virus once and for all.
Watch here @alankellylabour ask all TDs, Senators and MEPs to sign a pledge created to support the rollout of the Covid vaccine, the public awareness campaign and when the time comes to take the Covid vaccine.
— The Labour Party (@labour) December 8, 2020
Believe #VaccinesWork? Ask your local rep to sign the pledge today. pic.twitter.com/M7cHiJ2kkZ
Mr Kelly also asked the Taoiseach about the rollout of the vaccine and questioned whether legislation is required on setting up a database to gather information.
"This country's unique identification code is the personal public service, PPS, number. The information on individuals to be stored in this situation will be deep and personal and relate to their health. Do we need legislation? I presume the Government has been in touch with the Data Protection Commission in advance of this issue," he said.
Responding, Mr Martin pointed to the flu vaccine which has been received by around 2 million people.
"We are not strangers to national immunisation programmes, although this will be of a far greater scale than we have had so far. "There has been a very significant roll-out of the flu vaccination programme in itself. That worked very well, notwithstanding all of the complaints and criticisms," he told the Dáil.