Housing an 'issue for everybody', not just nurses, health minister tells INMO conference
Jennifer O'Carroll MacNeill was speaking during the second day of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) conference in Wexford.
The conference heard many nurses lived in 'inappropriate' housing at extremely high rents and some live two hours or more from their workplace.
One nurse said 'it's a dream' now to buy a house on her salary.
Fears were also raised the new children's hospital would struggle to recruit nurses due to shortages of affordable housing in that area of Dublin.
Housing is one of the biggest issues for this Government, the minister said.
'But it is an issue for everybody, it is an issue for retail workers who are not paid by the public purse as much as it is for nurses. This is a challenge everywhere,' she said.
'And certainly, I think as we go forward it is a matter for hospital managers to see what they can do in terms of additional accommodation on site for emergency situations.'
Nurses also discussed low staffing numbers, with 61.5% saying they thought about leaving in the past month.
The minister acknowledged these pressures, saying work continued on a framework for safe staffing, as well as opening of more beds.
On Thursday, 417 patients could not get a bed in hospitals, including 88 at University Hospital Limerick, and 28 at Cork University Hospital, INMO data showed.
'Limerick is in a particular difficulty and they need that 96-bed block,' Ms Carroll MacNeill said, referring to a block opening in September.
'I look at the [trolley] figures every weekend and I note that Limerick actually got to amber once, which is a big step for Limerick.'
This hospital was 'one of the first' to make changes to rostering, she added.
She pointed to virtual wards and other digital changes as other ways pressures could be eased.
In a speech, INMO president Caroline Gourley called on Ms Carroll MacNeill to support patients and staff.
'Minister, this requires three things on the part of the State,' she said.
'Ensuring we focus on the true underlying principles of universal healthcare through Sláintecare, looking after healthcare workers to ensure they can look after the most vulnerable, and getting staffing right.'
Ms Gourley also said: 'We are thinking of course of our colleagues in Palestine.
'This summer we will welcome six paediatric nurses from Palestine to Dublin, so they can learn from colleagues in the Irish health service. Their workplaces should be off limits.
'Those who target healthcare workers or their workplaces must be held accountable and brought to justice under international humanitarian laws.'
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