Student nurses in Dáil protest over pay
Student medics made the call outside the Dáil yesterday during a major protest against Dr Reilly’s controversial nurse graduate scheme.
Under the policy, which was imposed last year after being revealed by the Irish Examiner in November 2012, new nurses entering the system have seen their expected salaries slashed to below the minimum wage.
Despite previously receiving a starting wage of €26,000 which rises over subsequent years, new graduates are now given just €22,000 in their first 12 months, rising slightly until the €26,000 target is hit after three years’ service.
This rate means new nurses receive just €6.49 an hour — lower than the €8.65 minimum wage.
Dr Reilly has repeatedly defended the rate, saying it includes further education, and should instead be seen as a chance for graduates to gain more experience.
Today @TheUSI launched the #everyonelovesnurses campaign out the Dail.Read more: http://t.co/ozDFNpivMx pic.twitter.com/T1ySyOyoZM
— Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (@amle_ie) February 6, 2014
However, the nursing profession has ridiculed the policy, claiming it is forcing graduates towards emigration or out of the health service completely.
Speaking during a Union of Students in Ireland protest on the issue outside the Dáil yesterday, those affected said the situation means working in a pub or starting again in another country is now a more attractive prospect than taking up nurse positions in the health service.
“This is insulting to the profession and the individual who goes into it,” said graduate nurse Sean Kearns, 22, from Tuam, Co Galway.
In the past 12 months, Mr Kearns has worked placements in oncology, surgical, medical, maternity, paediatric, and emergency department wards — a move he said makes a mockery of claims that nurse graduates are not worth the minimum wage.
“It is not uncommon for interns and graduates to be left alone with 13 patients,” he said. “In Canada the starting salary is €43,000 or so. In America, nursing is one of the best paid positions at the start, and in England they’re crying out for nurses. Of 65 in my class over 20 have emigrated, while quite a few have gone back to shops and pubs. We feel there is just no choice.”
Catriona Quinlan, a 19-year-old second-year student nurse at Trinity College from Ballaghadarreen, Co Mayo, said the reality is “nurses who are qualified are going into retail and working in shops, because you earn more money with less stress”.
USI campaigns officer Paddy Guiney said the group will hold a rally outside the HSE’s Dublin City office on Thursday, February 20, to further highlight the issue.
A number of student nurses said the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s “sold us out” by agreeing to the cut-price graduate salaries last summer, after initially opposing the policy.
We Challenge the government to do better for nurses.Watch the USI #everyonelovesnurses Video below & check out http://t.co/blgl2gdvuc
— Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (@amle_ie) February 6, 2014
However, INMO student and new graduates officer Dean Flanagan, who attended yesterday’s protest, said without the union’s negotiations the pay rate would have been even worse.
He said the INMO has filed a complaint against the HSE with the Labour Relations Commission on the below-minimum wage issue in recent weeks.
* Follow the USI campaign on Twitter at #everyonelovesnurses
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