The Dáil has voted against the motion to pay student nurses & midwives. The motion was brought to vote by People Before Profit on Wednesday December 2nd. All three government parties rejected the bill with a 77-72 vote count, favouring the ‘níl’ side.
The motion proposed by people before profit, was heavily backed by the social democrats and Sinn Féin. However, after a narrow passing of the motion, TD’s who backed the motion were quick to voice their opinions on the matter.
RISE TD Paul Murphy described the situation that student nurses and midwives as one with “claps, but no pay” TD Darren O’Rourke from Sinn Féin also took to twitter, questioning the governments voting decision.
Student Nurses and Midwives were initially told they would be paid during the Coronavirus pandemic, given that so many worked on the frontline over the year 2020. Former Minister for Health and the current Minister for Higher Education was quoted in RTÉ from March 26th saying he “will do everything to support” healthcare workers, when the decision to pay student nurses and midwives was announced.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 4,000 student nurses and midwives have worked in healthcare, which saw hospitals and carers put under heavy pressure in the spring and summer of 2020.
More reaction on this story as it comes…
Luke Murphy, Co-Editor
