Pádraig O'Sullivan thanks nurses and warns of a staffing crisis

Thanks Comhairle, and just initially I want to just thank all the nurses around the country at the outset on today, International Nurses Day, and I think it's only fit and right that we do start our speeches in here by saying thank you, not as a formality or not just a generic line in a speech, but a meaningful and heartfelt one. All of us in here have experienced healthcare at various stages of our lives or with our family members, and nurses have always been there to help us along those most, sometimes most treasured moments in our lives, but sometimes the most difficult moments in our lives as well. If you actually think about it, the first hands that many of us, that would have touched many of us in this world have belonged to a nurse or a midwife. When we were frightened in hospital as children, it was a nurse who sat with us. When our parents or grandparents were at the most vulnerable, confused, in pain, afraid, it was a nurse who often stayed with us, who explained things gently, who held a hand when no family member could be there, who made a cold clinical environment feel somehow human. There is no qualification in the world that teaches you how to do that. That comes from something deeper and from the character of every single one of those nurses and from genuine compassion. Irish nurses have that in abundance. The IMO represents over 42,000 nurses and midwives across the island, 42,000 people who made a deliberate choice to dedicate their working lives to the care of others, who sat their exams, completed their training, put on their uniform for the first time and decided that this was how they wanted to spend their days. That decision deserves to be celebrated loudly and genuinely here today. Irish nursing also carries a history to be enormously proud of. For generations, Irish nurses have been regarded amongst the finest in the world, thought after, respected and trusted in every corner of the globe. Their reputation was not handed to them. It was built ward by ward, shift by shift, by the women and men who gave everything to their patients and to their profession. We stand on the shoulders of that tradition today and we should acknowledge it with pride. And the dedication continues right now as we speak in this chamber. There are nurses across Cork, across Munster and across every county in the country who are on their feet, doing what they do quietly, expertly, without fanfare. They are not looking for applause. They never have been, but they deserve it all the same. Ceann Comhairle celebrating our nurses means asking ourselves an honest question. Are we doing enough to make Ireland a place where they want to stay, where they feel valued enough to build their whole career, their whole life, right here at home? Because the truth is, Irish nurses are wanted everywhere. Australia wants them, Canada wants them, the Middle East wants them, and who could blame any country for wanting the best? But we want them here also and we need them here. And more than that, they belong here. In the hospitals and communities they grew up in, caring for the people they know, building something lasting in the country that shaped them. Indeed, it's actually worrying that Ireland has the highest proportion of foreign trained nurses in the entire OECD, 51.8%, more than twice the level of the second highest country. That's not a badge of honour, that's a warning sign that's flashing red for all of us and we need to take heed. The INMO has told us that there are currently 5,000 nurses and midwife vacancies across the country, 5,000. That's not just a number on a page, it's 5,000 opportunities for Irish nurses to come home, to step in, to be part of rebuilding something, and it's 5,000 reasons why we must make Ireland attractive as possible for nurses to stay and to return. That is why we should be making Ireland the best place in the world for an Irish nurse to build their career. We should be investing in pay that properly reflects the responsibility nurses carry every single day. A staff nurse now starts on €37,288 and we need to keep building on that, year on year, until the gap between what Ireland offers and what other countries offer is no longer a reason for anyone to leave. We should be moving urgently towards safe staffing legislation, real enforceable ratios so that every nurse can finish a shift knowing they gave the standard of care they trained so hard to deliver. And we should be providing genuine career progression so that the nurse who qualifies today can look ahead and see a future here that is fulfilling, sustainable and rewarding. We should be making that choice easy because right now for too many nurses it isn't easy enough. We want the young person considering nursing as a career to choose it with confidence. We want the newly qualified nurse to look around and see a country that has their back. And we want the experienced nurse who has given years of service to feel that their dedication is truly seen and truly valued. Ireland is blessed with nurses who are second to none. We should make sure Ireland is a country that is second to none in the way it looks after them.