Danny Healy-Rae warns nurses leaving over pay and costs
Danny Healy-Rae spoke on 2 Nov 2021 about nursing shortages and pay, arguing that nurses are leaving and must be paid properly. He highlighted staff losses at Tralea General Hospital, a SIPTU claim that a hundred nursing posts are needed at Kerry General Hospital, and halted elective surgery since September.
Nurses leaving frontline care
Healy-Rae said nurses are abandoning their places of work day by day, citing an instance where six nurses left together at Tralea General Hospital. He referenced Dhoni Doody of SIPTU saying a hundred new nurses and nursing posts are required at Kerry General Hospital.
Elective surgery and hospital conditions
Healy-Rae noted there has been no elective surgery since the first week of September and described corridors at Tralea General Hospital lined with elderly patients for two to three days at a time, calling that situation unacceptable.
Pay, registration fees and rising costs
Healy-Rae argued nurses are not being paid properly and said they should be allowed to register for free, noting they have been charged a hundred euros to register. He linked the problem to rising living costs, saying nurses face higher petrol and diesel bills due to carbon tax increases.
Critique of government spending on climate measures
Healy-Rae criticised the Taoiseach’s funding commitments for climate change, saying the Taoiseach recently promised 200 million or more and pulled out 200 million yesterday, with further promises over the next ten years. He argued that money could instead be used to pay nurses and support hospital staffing.
Appeal to valuing nursing as a vocation
Healy-Rae emphasised that nursing is a vocation requiring training and care, and concluded that failing to pay nurses properly lets them down and undermines patient care.
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I'm glad to get a chance to talk on this very important motion here tonight and I wish to thank Sinn Fein for how long is to do that. We have to support our nurses because, and it's very clear, that nurses are leaving their places of work day by day. On one particular day in Tralea General Hospital six nurses left together. And at the present time, Dhoni Doody of SIPTU says that we need a hundred new nurses and nursing posts to be filled in Kerry General Hospital. No elective surgery since the first week of September. Can you imagine that? Our corridors are lined with elderly people for two and three days, the corridors in Tralea General Hospital. That's not acceptable. And this government and TDs here have been praising the nurses. But what we must do is pay them properly. They are not being paid properly at the present time. They should be allowed to register for free. They have been charged a hundred euros to register. What are we doing for them? Charging them more to go to work by charging them more carbon tax in the petrol and diesel of their cars. And at the same time, we have the Taoiseach of the country over around Scotland in a man, and he promised him 200 million or more. He took and pulled it out of his pocket, 200 million yesterday, to help with the climate change. If he's there for secular, secular, he won't change the weather, or do anything to improve it. And we're after a bad week in Kerry, but he'll do nothing to improve the weather. And on top of that, he have 200 million or more promised for the next 10 years towards climate change. And we can pay our nurses in Tralea General Hospital around the country, and we expect them to work, and let them down to the ground. And nursing is a vocation. And they have to be caring, and they have to be trained to the last to do this job. And yet we won't pay them properly. I'm sorry.
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