I raise the plight of assistant psychologists. The people in question study for three years for their undergraduate degrees, and most of them pay approximately €10,000 to do their master's degrees. They then become assistant psychologists but they do not get paid work. To get paid work, they have to study for clinical doctorates but in order to gain admission to the relevant course, they have to have experience. These young people are then forced to work for nothing. I know a young lady who works five days a week in a local business for the minimum wage and then works two days a week, free of charge, as an assistant psychologist. This lady is working seven days a week for the minimum wage. As most of those jobs are in Dublin, she is travelling from the country to Dublin for two days a week, putting petrol in her car and having to stay overnight, to work for the minimum wage. That is not good enough. She uses the few bob she earns from the local business to fund her working. I strongly believe there is not a trainee psychiatrist in this country who is asked to do that. It is not fair or equal that a psychologist would have to do it. As we all know, the waiting lists for people suffering with mental health issues are very long. That puts pressure on general practitioners who are struggling. There is also a waiting list for children with educational difficulties, therefore, there is a clear need for clinical psychologists.

I ask the Leader to consider inviting the Minister to the House for a discussion on this issue. It is not fair that young people who pay for their college education and study hard end up having to work free of charge. I welcome the children who are in the Public Gallery. Some of them might be assistant psychologists one day and I hope when that day comes, they will be paid for their efforts.

I raise the issue of the Public Service Pay Commission. The Psychiatric Nurses Association of Ireland and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, are meeting today to discuss the findings of the Public Service Pay Commission and figure out how we can correct the problem of more than 2,000 vacancies throughout the nursing profession. The Public Service Pay Commission has stated there is no issue with nursing recruitment, but that is inaccurate and misleading. The dogs in the street know it is an issue. The staff and the patients know it is an issue. To take psychiatry alone, mental health is spoken about a great deal. The latest audit of nursing vacancies indicates that the number of unfilled nursing posts in mental growth is growing, and there are 700 posts vacant in that speciality alone. That is nearly 200 vacancies since last year when the last audit was done. There are 88 vacancies in St. Ita's Hospital and 76 vacancies in St. James's Hospital. In Dublin north city, there are 56 vacancies, 62 in Galway, 46 in Louth-Meath and so on.

The Public Service Pay Commission has ignored the scale of the mounting recruitment and retention crisis facing the entire health services. Retirements projected in the next five years will put further pressure on an already broken system. The conclusion of the pay commission that there is no issue with nurse recruitment is completely at odds with the evidence and experience of nurses and patients across the services. The reality is that there are ongoing vacancies, in some places as high as 25%, which are impacting daily on the delivery of health services. In particular, the staff shortages in child and adolescent mental health services are well documented, as is the excessive and expensive reliance on overtime and agency nurses throughout the services. Nurses argue that these staff shortages are unsustainable and can be best addressed by a pay rise across the grade. Will the Leader ask for a debate with the Minister about the Public Service Pay Commission and the reason it rejected across the board pay rises in services that are much needed for the health of the nation? It has ignored the mounting recruitment and retention issue.