Independent Ireland Leader Michael Collins TD has slammed the HSE for withdrawing employment offers made to recently graduated nursing students, describing the situation as a disgrace and demanding that it be urgently addressed. Reports that nursing graduates who had accepted full-time permanent positions at Cork University Hospital have subsequently been told that those offers are no longer valid are deeply concerning. “These are young people who have spent years training to become nurses, many of whom have already worked in our hospitals throughout their training, and who were told they had secured full-time employment,” said Deputy Collins. “Now, at the very point when they should be starting their careers, they are being told that those offers have been withdrawn and that some may instead be placed on a staff bank. “It is simply unacceptable. “The Government bends over backwards to tell us that Ireland needs inward migration to fill shortages of doctors, engineers, healthcare workers and other skilled professionals. “And yet here we have recently graduated nurses in Ireland, trained in Ireland and ready to work in our hospitals, being treated like this by the HSE. “It is a complete contradiction. “We should be doing everything possible to retain the highly skilled people we train here. Instead, we risk pushing them towards other countries where they will be welcomed and offered secure employment. “The HSE has apologised and said the original offers were made in error, but an apology is not good enough for graduates who have made plans around these jobs and are now facing uncertainty about their futures. “The Government needs to get a grip of this situation and urgently establish exactly what happened, how many graduates have been affected and what is being done to ensure that they are given proper employment opportunities. “I will be raising this issue as one of the first matters when the Dáil returns next week. “We cannot continue to spend years and significant public money training nurses only to leave them looking abroad for work when they qualify. “We need to retain the nurses we train, give them secure employment and put the people of Ireland first. “This is a disgrace and it needs to be addressed urgently.” @MichaelC_IND_TD