asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on the complaint of the Irish Nurses Organisation that student nurses on £52 per week are being forced to pay for their own hepatitis B injections costing £70 before they can take up work in some Dublin hospitals; and if he will be paying a subvention to eliminate this unjust charge.
Written Answers. - Hepatitis B Injections.
198.
All agencies which incur costs arising from the provision of the Hepatitis B vaccine were informed by circular letter of 4 August 1988 that their allocations would be adjusted to cover the increased costs. It is a matter for each agency to decide in the light of local circumstances on the number of staff who may be at risk and to provide the vaccine free of charge to those staff. If the agencies consider that student nurses in the course of their duties come within the "at risk" categories, the vaccine should be made available to students free of charge.
I would not condone any other course of action and I will be clarifying the matter with the relevant agencies.