I am glad to get the opportunity to raise my satisfaction and appreciation of all the nurses in Kerry and around the country, especially the nurses with whom I have had the occasion to deal with many times, both in the past and recently. I am especially thinking of staff in University Hospital Kerry but also those in the district hospitals in Killarney, Listowel, Cahersiveen, Dingle, Valencia and Kenmare and the hospitals that Kerry people go to, such as the one over the head in Bantry. Many Kerry people also use the hospitals in Cork, including Cork University Hospital, South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Bon Secours Hospital, the Mater Private Cork Hospital and so forth. The standard of nursing we have in this country is massive. I do not think they have it in any other part of the world. I had occasion to be in the hospital the other night with a patient at around 3 a.m. The nurses there were working the very same as if it was the middle of the day. They were doing their duty and they knew every patient by name. They had such an understanding of everyone's needs on the ward I was in. It is great to have that when we need it. We must look after them. I had occasion to meet a young girl who is 18 years old and training to be a mental health nurse. She has to go to Mayo from Milltown in Kerry to further her studies. She is determined and she will do it as she wants to be a nurse. I admire her for the determination she is showing. We need these nurses and we need them seen after, and paid and remunerated properly. I feel for the ambulance drivers who have to go out on strike. I met one of them the other evening who had actually given up. He was a young man of only 45 years of age. He could not stick it any longer. That is the gospel truth. To go back to the nurses, I appreciate them. We adore the ground they walk on and we appreciate them so much for the effort they put in on that roster every time they appear.

Sentiment score: 0.17