Laois councillor challenged over her claims of the numbers of nurses leaving the profession

A LAOIS councillor was challenged over her claims that young people are not being incentivized enough to take up professions in the frontline services.

The challenge to produce the facts about her claims, came about when Cllr Aisling Moran proposed a motion at the February meeting of Laois County Council calling on the government to introduce urgent measures to help recruit and retain essential frontline staff such as nurses and gardaí, “who are currently leaving their positions in droves.” 

Cllr Moran said that as soon as people are qualified they are leaving the country, because, “they want to be able to afford a home, a better quality of life and a good work/life balance.” 

Cllr Moran said that companies such as Facebook, Ryanair and Microsoft have purchased houses for their staff and that “maybe that’s an option that could be looked at for anybody working in the county in the essential frontline areas. The government could be providing apartments and houses to rent to them. It would also regenerate local towns and villages. With some people working in the hospitals, instead of piling them all into Portlaoise, they could be located in the likes of Stradbally or Borris-in-Ossory or in other towns around the county.” 

Cllr Moran also said: “Staff are also expected to do overtime. It’s not as though they have a choice in the matter, because there’s not enough staff and it’s because they have to do it. They do the extra work and they’re taxed over half of it. Maybe the government could look at introducing some sort of tax incentive for these workers. Perhaps if they have to work overtime that they are not taxed on that overtime pay?” 

“The other issue, I have is teachers on career brakes. These positions are left open for them to return. This is what happened with some TDs and no one else can take on those positions permanently. Something has to be done about that,” she said.

In seconded the motion cllr Ben Brennan said: “For what gardaí get starting off, it’s not encouraging people one bit to join. If they go in, they can’t afford a mortgage, because the basic wage is too low. And, their putting their lives at risk. It’s also a tough job for nurses. Fair play to any man or woman working in the hospitals. It’s not an easy job, it’s tough. They should be respected for the work they do.” 

Cllr Vivienne Phelan said: “While I agree with the sentiment of the motion, I’m just wondering do you have any figures on how many nurses have left. I’d like to see the actual numbers.” 

Cllr Moran said she had not the actual figures to hand but would be happy to provide cllr Phelan with them.

Cllr Moran said: “I know in my own circle of friends a number of nurses who have left the industry due to the stress. Young people are leaving in their droves because they also want to travel, but some are not coming back because they are getting better options and opportunities to live abroad. We need to look at options that will incentivize and keep the people here in Ireland and make them want to stay and work at home.” 

Cllr Phelan said that she also sees similar retention and recruitment problems in her profession as a veterinary practitioner, “but I think there’s a multifactorial issue. We all have personal experiences but, they’re not facts. With these type of motions it would be nice for clarity sake to have facts and figures in future.” 

A short while later during the course of the meeting, cllr Moran came back with the facts and figures cllr Phelan sought.

Cllr Moran said: “The IMNO conducted a survey in 2019 and it revealed that 71% of nursing graduates are considering leaving Ireland. Over 50% of new nurses are quitting within their first two years.”