Rose Conway-Walsh: Nurses Deserve Safe Staffing Now
Rose Conway-Walsh delivers a speech on International Nurses Day calling for urgent investment in nursing staff, safe staffing ratios, better pay and working conditions. She highlights understaffing, burnout and the loss of graduate nurses, and stands in solidarity with ambulance workers on strike.
Rose Conway-Walsh opened by recognising the dedication and compassion of nurses across the health service and described the real pressures they face in overcrowded hospitals and understaffed wards. She criticised successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments for failing to deliver safe staffing levels.
Conway-Walsh set out core demands: deliver safe staffing level ratios, improve pay and working conditions, and ensure nurses receive the support and respect they deserve. She argued these measures are essential to protect patient care and sustain the health service.
The speech warns that every year well-trained graduate nurses leave Ireland because they cannot secure permanent posts, affordable housing or decent conditions. She said Ireland cannot continue to train nurses only to see them leave while hospitals remain understaffed.
Conway-Walsh acknowledged CIP2 members in the National Ambulance Service taking strike action and called for meaningful engagement to resolve staffing and working condition concerns. She stressed solidarity with frontline healthcare and ambulance workers.
Conway-Walsh concluded by demanding government recognition and action for healthcare workers, framing investment in the workforce as central to protecting the health service and reducing waiting times for patients.
What she said
Rose Conway-Walsh opened by recognising the dedication and compassion of nurses across the health service and described the real pressures they face in overcrowded hospitals and understaffed wards. She criticised successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments for failing to deliver safe staffing levels.
Staffing, pay and conditions
Conway-Walsh set out core demands: deliver safe staffing level ratios, improve pay and working conditions, and ensure nurses receive the support and respect they deserve. She argued these measures are essential to protect patient care and sustain the health service.
Graduate nurse exodus
The speech warns that every year well-trained graduate nurses leave Ireland because they cannot secure permanent posts, affordable housing or decent conditions. She said Ireland cannot continue to train nurses only to see them leave while hospitals remain understaffed.
Ambulance staff and industrial action
Conway-Walsh acknowledged CIP2 members in the National Ambulance Service taking strike action and called for meaningful engagement to resolve staffing and working condition concerns. She stressed solidarity with frontline healthcare and ambulance workers.
Political responsibility and consequences
Conway-Walsh concluded by demanding government recognition and action for healthcare workers, framing investment in the workforce as central to protecting the health service and reducing waiting times for patients.
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Transcript
International Nurses Day is about recognising the extraordinary dedication, professionalism and compassion shown every day by our nurses across this health service. They are the backbone of patient care, and I've seen first-hand the incredible work that nurses do in Mayo on a daily basis. Yet too many are working under relentless pressure in overcrowded hospitals, understaffed wards and unsafe conditions that are driving exhaustion and burnout. Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments have failed to deliver safe staffing levels, and that's the bottom line. Nurses are being asked to do more for less, while patients wait longer for care and healthcare workers carry the burden of a system stretched beyond capacity. If we are serious about protecting our health service, we must invest in the workforce that sustains it. That means delivering safe staffing level ratios, improving pay and working conditions, and ensuring that nurses have the support and respect they deserve. We also need urgent action to recruit and retrain our graduate nurses. Every year, highly trained graduate nurses leave Ireland because they cannot secure permanent posts, affordable housing or decent conditions. We cannot continue to train nurses for export while our own hospitals suffer from understaffing. As we speak here today, CIP2 members in the National Ambulance Service are taking strike action across the country. We must also acknowledge the pressure facing these workers. Their concerns around staffing and working conditions deserve meaningful engagement and a fair resolution too. On International Nurses Day, Sinn Féin stands in solidarity with our nurses, our frontline healthcare workers and our ambulance workers. We value their incredible work and dedicated service, and we demand the recognition from government that all healthcare workers deserve.