“Public service unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions have overwhelmingly endorsed the new public service agreement. The ‘Building Momentum’ deal will deliver pay rises of up to 3% over two years and unwind some cuts and additional hours imposed during the financial crisis …” (more)
[Ingrid Miley, RTÉ News, 23 February]
WSinn Féin spokesperson on Health David Cullinane has reiterated his call for the Minister for Health to immediately pay student nurses and midwives. This follows a Sinn Féin motion which was passed by the Dáil a month ago on January 20th …” (more)
[Sinn Féin, 22 February]
“IFUT members have voted by an overwhelming majority in favour of the new Public Service Agreement representing a 97% ‘yes’ majority in the ballots cast. The Agreement, ‘Building Momentum: A New Public Service Agreement’ 2021-2022 provides for increases in pay, commitments to reductions in working hours, restoration of overtime rates and protection on public service outsourcing, all of which deliver positive outcomes and potential for IFUT members and workers in the higher education sector …” (more)
[IFUT, 18 February]
[See also: Public Service Agreement 2021-2022 FAQ]
“A bill which would see student nurses and midwives paid the same rate as health care assistants is due to be debated in the Seanad this afternoon. However, Cabinet decided during the week that it’s not going to oppose the opposition bill in the hope of sending it ‘into the ether’ …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 19 February]
“Labour Senator Annie Hoey has accused the government of ‘playing games in order to avoid bad headlines’ after Cabinet decided yesterday that it’s not going to oppose the latest bill on student nurses’ pay in the hope of sending it ‘into the ether’. Hoey‘s Student Nurses (Pay) Bill 2020, due before the Seanad this Friday, would ensure student nurses and midwives are paid at a minimum at the same rate as healthcare assistants when working in the health service as part of their training …” (more)
[Adam Daly, TheJournal.ie, 17 February]
“While much has been written about the unsatisfactory position of graduate interns in Ireland and the JobBridge scheme, with deadlines fast approaching for summer internships this article will explore some of the rights and entitlements of undergraduate interns …” (more)
[Louise Kennedy, College Tribune, 14 February]
“SIPTU members in the public service have voted by a resounding majority to accept the proposals in Building Momentum, a New Public Service Agreement. Following a count of ballots in Liberty Hall today (Thursday, 11th February), 91% of votes were in favour of the proposals …” (more)
[SIPTU, 11 February]
“Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD has commented on the decision of the ASTI to vote against the public service pay agreement. Teachta Ó Laoghaire said …” (more)
[Sinn Féin, 10 February]
“Second-level teachers represented by the ASTI trade union have voted decisively to reject the proposed new public service pay agreement. In a ballot, which concluded on Wednesday, ASTI members voted against the new deal by 79% to 21%. ASTI president Ann Piggott said the proposed agreement did not resolve the problem of unequal pay in teaching, an issue which the union had been pursuing for more than a decade …” (more)
[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 10 February]
“Student nurses have said they felt ‘abandoned’ by the Government after their placements were cancelled due to the rising rate of Covid-19. Students also question why the scheme from last March, where the HSE offered student nurses from first to third year health care assistant (HCA) contracts, has not been reinstated …” (more)
[Aine Kenny, Irish Examiner, 9 February]
“Student doctors who put their lives on the line during the Covid pandemic are not getting a £2,000 bonus being given to other health service trainees. Last week, Health Minister Robin Swann announced that nurses in Northern Ireland are to receive a £500 ‘special recognition’ payment for their work during the pandemic, while some student nurses will get £2,000 …” (more)
[Lisa Smyth, Belfast Telegraph, 4 February]
“I spent my Christmas break like most students: eating, drinking and defending the likelihood that I get a job with an arts degree to my family. A mostly comfortable existence after the flurry of first semester. Skipping right over exams (because who needs reminding), I came to what I call ‘application season’ …” (more)
[Mairead Maguire, University Times, 2 February]
“Sinn Féin MLA Órlaithí Flynn has welcomed confirmation of a £2,000 payment for student nurses on clinical placement involved working on the frontline on the fight against COVID-19. Órlaithí Flynn said …” (more)
[Sinn Féin, 27 January]
“When the government decided this week that over 2,000 nurses and midwives would be pulled from public hospitals in order to free up the senior staff training them, it did two things. Not only did it undermine the vital role that some 4,000 student nurses and midwives have played on the frontline of the health service during the pandemic by framing them as mere burdens on hospital staff, but it also managed to circumvent the thorny issue of placement pay yet again …” (more)
[University Times, 24 January]
“A student nurse had to help an elderly patient shower after his toe fell off, the Dáil has heard. As the TD’s debated the motion of pay for student nurses and midwives, Sinn Féin TD for Kildare, Patricia Ryan, read one nurse’s particularly gruesome account into the Dáil record …” (more)
[Steven Heaney, Irish Examiner, 20 January]
“A 21-year-old student nurse has described her anger at the Government debating whether or not to allocate people in her role a €100-a-week allowance while she holds the hands of dying Covid-19 patients. Tessa Bock says student nurses have been recognised as frontline workers since the start of the pandemic last March. ‘We had to quit jobs, sacrifice our health and our families’ health and dive right into the middle of it all’ …” (more)
[Olivia Kelleher, Irish Times, 20 January]
“Offering student nurses contracts as paid healthcare assistants in hospitals would have more disadvantages than advantages, a report to be given by the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to Cabinet this morning has found. The report said such a move, which has been called for by nursing representative organisations, would ‘undermine the graduate training model’ for nurses and ‘may have a displacement effect on healthcare assistants’ …” (more)
[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 19 January]
“Ministers are set to discuss issues around pay for student nurses at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, with nursing unions reiterating calls for fair remuneration. In November, a review commissioned by the Department of Health and carried out by Prof Tom Collins recommended that the pandemic placement grant, a payment of €100 per week after tax, should be paid when student nurses are on hospital placements from January 2021 until the end of the pandemic …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 19 January]
“Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane TD, has called on the Minister for Health to stop delaying and to pay student nurses and midwives now. Sinn Féin will bring a motion to the Dáil on Wednesday to ensure student nurses and midwives receive fair pay. Teachta Cullinane said …” (more)
[Sinn Féin, 16 January]
“Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to ensure that PhD candidates in third level institutions who are also teaching classes as part of their stipends are paid adequately for their work (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 13 January]
