Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 8 Jun 2000

Vol. 520 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Nursing Students.

Ms Shortall

I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I also thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond to it. I note the Minister of State represents the relevant Departments of Health and Children and Education and Science.

It is again necessary to discuss the issue of student nurses. This matter has been raised on several occasions over the past year. There have been a number of protests about the unfairness of the fact that student nurses were the only full-time undergraduates who had to pay fees in the State. The fees are currently approximately £2,000. On several occasions, Members on both sides of the House raised this matter through parliamentary questions or on the Adjournment.

The validity of the case was finally recognised recently when the Minister for Health and Children, probably because of his experience as Minister for Education and Science, acknowledged the plight of nurses in training and announced a package of £15 million to effectively pay the fees of student nurses during their degree course year. This £15 million will cover the next few years, starting from January. This move is welcome and it recognises the unfair anomaly that existed to which many Members drew attention. However, I have raised the issue again to draw attention to the 237 current students and recently qualified nurses who are being left out of the initiative. They have been overlooked and I appeal to the Minister of State to introduce measures to facilitate and provide financial support for existing students and recently qualified personnel who will not benefit from the latest initiative.

Student nurses unlike any other students are much needed by society and the economy. We are in a position where our health services cannot expand because of the shortage of nurses. There is a nursing home in my constituency in which only 50% of the beds are open. The others cannot open because no nurses are available. This story is replicated throughout the country. There is a dire shortage of nurses and we cannot afford to alienate any nurses in the system. This is why I appeal to the Minister of State to recognise the unfairness of the treatment of the current student nurses and those who recently qualified.

There are 120 nurses in training at present, pursuing the degree course. They are due to qualify in the coming months. We cannot afford to alienate those student nurses or their comrades who qualified recently. This is why there is a strong case for providing some form of financial assistance either through a rebate of fees or a waiver of any remaining fees which are due to be paid this year. We badly need those nurses to stay in the country and to fill the many vacant posts in our health service which are preventing it from developing and people from receiving vital health services.

I ask the Minister of State, on the grounds of justice and equity, to make a special arrangement for this small group of people who are needed in our society and whom we cannot afford to alienate. They have made a commitment in terms of their training over a four year period. It is grossly unfair to single them out and to alienate them when the principle has been recognised by the Minister for Health and Children in his £15 million package. A small sum of money, £474,000, is required to give a rebate to those who have already incurred significant expenditure. I appeal strongly to the Minister of State to introduce an initiative as the Minister has already done for future student nurses. We should not forget the student nurses in training and those recently qualified. I look forward to a positive response from the Minister of State.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Ms Hanafin)

I thank Deputy Shortall for raising this issue. As the Deputy outlined, a large number of registered nurses and midwives pursue part-time degree courses. There are variations between health agencies in the provision of fee support. The priority action plan agreed between the Department of Health and Children and the nursing unions for the implementation of core recommendations of the Commission on Nursing includes a commitment to the introduction of uniform criteria for the provision of financial support to nurses and midwives undertaking post-registration education courses. This has provided the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, with a unique opportunity to create a level playing field for the payment of nursing fees.

The Minister recently announced that from 1 January 2001 nurses working in the public health service who want to undertake nursing and certain other undergraduate degree courses on a part-time basis will have their fees paid in full by their employing agencies. Fees will be paid in return for a commitment by nurses to continue to work in our public health service for a period of up to two years after the completion of the degree course. This fees initiative will continue until at least the year 2005 at an estimated additional annual cost of £3 million.

This initiative is designed for the benefit of nurses who do not already have a degree and includes fees for access courses and nursing degrees undertaken through distance education. It will apply to nurses employed in our public health service in either a permanent or temporary capacity. An important objective of the initiative is to provide an assurance to graduates from the three year nursing diploma programmes that they will have an opportunity to undertake a part-time degree course and have their fees paid. This should act as an incentive to newly qualified nurses to enter the workforce following registration and to remain there, thus alleviating the current shortage of nursing personnel.

As this initiative will apply from next year, nurses who commence part-time degree courses before then are outside its scope. However, it is open to such nurses to apply to their employers for financial support towards their fees. The main health agencies have continuing nurse education budgets out of which they may provide financial assistance to nurses undertaking post-registration education programmes.

There is a one academic year nursing degree course currently on offer at the National University of Ireland, Galway. This course was developed by NUI, Galway, against the wishes of both the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Health and Children, both of whom favoured the development of part-time nursing degree courses in line with the approach adopted by other third level institutions. In the context of the present shortage of nurses, it is vitally important that newly qualified nurses who have successfully completed the three year nursing diploma programme enter the workforce as soon as they are registered. If students were to delay their entry by a further year to undertake the type of degree course offered by NUI, Galway, this would exacerbate the difficulties some hospitals are experiencing in recruiting nurses.

The thrust of the fees initiative announced by the Minister is to encourage graduates from the nursing diploma programmes to enter the nursing workforce immediately and for employers to retain them. This initiative has been warmly received by Deputy Shortall and the nursing unions who regard it as the most equitable approach to the provision of financial support to nurses and midwives wishing to undertake post-registration education programmes, irrespective of their model of pre-registration training.