Peter Roche: A Personal Tribute to Nurses and Ambulance Staff
Peter Roche addresses the chamber to thank nurses across the country and to acknowledge ambulance services who are striking for better conditions. He draws on his first job in a nursing home and recent family bereavements to explain why he believes nurses deserve recognition and support.
Personal experience and reason for thanks
Peter Roche recounts his first job at 16 in a nursing home and recent hospital visits after losing close family members. He says those experiences left an indelible mark and shaped his view of the empathy and tolerance shown by nursing staff.
Praise for frontline care
Roche praises nurses for their compassion and steadiness under stress, highlighting moments when staff arrived to relieve patients in critical situations. He stresses that nurses continually develop skills and provide life-saving care without letting pressure affect patients.
Challenges and recruitment
He acknowledges the pressures nurses face, including stress, difficulty finding first posts, and movement of staff abroad. Roche notes many professionals return with valuable international experience and says policy should help create opportunities for them to work here.
A call to recognise and support nurses
Roche urges colleagues and the public to vocalise gratitude and to take stock of what nurses endure. He emphasises fair recognition for the contribution nursing staff make to society and concludes by adding his voice of thanks to nurses nationwide.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Thank you, Ciann Comhairle, and can I firstly say that I'm glad to have the opportunity to add my voice of thanks to the many, many nurses right around our country, and indeed a shout out as well to the ambulance services who are, I suppose, striking today, are wanting for us to do more for them. Rather strangely, my first ever job was at 16 years of age, which was in a nursing home during the summer holidays, and I really, I never forgot the impact that that had on me, and why? Because I saw the outstanding work that the nurses did back then, and it resonated with me, and it left, you might say, an indelible mark on me in the context of the outstanding care, and every patient was like their own parent, brother, sister, or father. I thought that was incredible. And, you know, I have to say then, honestly, from the last year of my own, I suppose, circumstances where we lost two members of my family, my daughter, not just this time, last year, and my brother in recent times, and I had lots of good reason to be visiting the hospitals. And I've often said that, you know, I felt that nurses are born to be nurses, are just that. They're not manufactured. They come with such empathy, and such care, and compassion, and, you know, and that wonderful tolerance, if you like, where, you know, they can cope with almost anything. And I saw lots of times where people, God help us, those that would be struggling maybe with dementia, they might strike out, and the nurse is able to withstand that and take that like as if it's part of the course. I'm not so sure there's any other, if you like, employment that would have, you know, the tolerance to be able to do that. But I just think that it's absolutely resounding that, you know, the work that they do. And I think it's high time that we said thanks, you know, very loud to them. And of course, saying thanks, as others have indicated, you know, over the last while, is, you know, it's a small thing, a very significant thing. But I think what is really needed is for us to take stock and to be cognizant of what it is that they are enduring. And in terms of fair play for the contribution that they're making in society, I think that's one of the most compelling things that we really should, we should really be doing. And I think, you know, all of the contributions here today have been along the lines of, you know, speaking very high in their praise and speaking about the challenges. And of course, we all know those challenges, and we certainly are aware of the tremendous stress there is. But, you know, I'm one of those, and God knows there's plenty more, that witnessed the nursing staff never allowing that stress or allowing that frontline pressure to have any impact on their patient. And I can recall, as I said in recent times, when just only a few weeks ago, when my brother was critically ill, and it was a comfort to him to press the red button, if you like, the help button. And the expression on anyone's face, and particularly his, when that nurse would arrive into the room, was just, it was a life saviour. And I think those are the things that I take from today's conversation. It's about we acknowledging that wonderful, wonderful contribution that they make to society. And, you know, and they go on, and they are continuing to do, continue a personal development to improve their skills. And as I said, you know, there are many who are finding it maybe a little bit of a struggle to find their first job in that nursing career. And there are those, as has been mentioned, that are abroad, and they would want an opportunity to come home or work here. And I don't already, or altogether, agree with those that are abroad, let it be in Australia, America, Canada. A lot of people go life choice, and they come back with a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer the health system here. So, just in conclusion, Corhaillach, I want to add my voice of thanks to them, the wonderful nursing staff right around the country, for what they do to keep the clock ticking, as it were, on life. Go raibh maith agat.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
