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Graduate Nursing Scheme

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 February 2013

Thursday, 14 February 2013

Questions (20, 35, 49, 346, 347, 359)

Timmy Dooley

Question:

20. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Health the savings he would expect to make from the graduate nurse recruitment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7489/13]

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Seamus Kirk

Question:

35. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Health if he will discontinue the graduate nurse recruitment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7507/13]

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Robert Troy

Question:

49. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health the services he will cut in the event of the graduate nurse recruitment scheme not being taken up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7515/13]

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Róisín Shortall

Question:

346. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the action he proposes to take to ensure the recruitment of 1,000 directly employed nurses in 2013 in view of the very low take up of his graduate nurses scheme. [7973/13]

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Róisín Shortall

Question:

347. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the total average monthly cost of an agency nurse and the reason he will not recruit graduate nurses on the standard pay-scale. [7974/13]

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Bernard Durkan

Question:

359. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the number of student nurses likely to be offered employment in the context of the recently announced initiative in this regard; when the posts are likely to be filled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8034/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 20, 35, 49, 346, 347 and 359 together.

The recruitment of graduate nurses under this scheme, which is currently in train, will continue. The HSE will accept applications on an ongoing basis for Phase 1, covering registered general nurses for the acute hospital setting and the community, from 2012 graduates and also those who graduated in 2010 and 2011. Further recruitment will continue during 2013. Phase 2, which will cover Mental Health, Intellectual Disability, Midwifery and Paediatrics, will launch in the coming days. There will also be opportunities for those who graduate in 2013 to participate in due course. The scheme was introduced on the assumption that intake would be spread over a period, especially since the scheme was being introduced some months after most 2012 graduates completed their training.

The initiative will give nursing and midwifery graduates an employment opportunity and facilitate their professional development. They will be able to avail of a suite of educational programmes including intravenous canulation and training in anaphylaxis treatment. It has also been agreed that participants will be facilitated in obtaining a certificate in advanced healthcare skills to cover areas such as health assessment and pharmacology.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform approved this employment initiative on the basis that participants would not be counted in health service staff numbers and that it would contribute to savings on unsustainable levels of agency and overtime expenditure. The HSE's National Service Plan for 2013 provides for a saving of €10m in the current year, arising from the introduction of this scheme. This level of saving will need to be achieved regardless of uptake. Based on the fifth point of the staff nurse salary scale, the average monthly cost to the health service of an agency nurse is approximately €5,000 including administration costs,VAT, PRSI and allowances. Given the requirement on the HSE to reduce numbers employed and to maximise savings, there is only very limited scope to offer permanent nursing posts at present.

The graduate nurse/midwife scheme represents an opportunity for a substantial number of recently-qualified nurses and midwives to work in Ireland for a two-year period and to gain valuable experience and additional skills at a time when job opportunities in the public service are, regrettably, very limited. Graduate nurses and midwives are of course entitled to choose whether to participate in the initiative or to pursue their careers elsewhere but I would hope to see a steady increase in applicants over the coming months. I consider that the boycott of the scheme by the nursing representative bodies is ill-judged and I would ask them to reconsider their opposition to this measure.

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