'Frontline workers deserve better’- Kilkenny TDs call for supports to local hospital

Kilkenny representatives highlighted the pressure being faced at St Luke’s General Hospital and by nurses all over the country

Published 19th May 2026, 17:30 BST Updated 19th May 2026, 17:46 BST St Luke's General Hospital | Local Library Kilkenny representatives highlighted the pressure being faced at St Luke’s General Hospital and by nurses all over the country Sign up to our Kilkenny Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Kilkenny Live within your account.

Carlow/ Kilkenny TDs Natasha Newsome Drennan and John McGuinness each made strong statements backing increased support for nurses and St Luke’s General Hospital at a Dáil session marking International Nurses Day this week.

While there was round support for nurses and the work they do, many TDs took the opportunity to criticise the Government for a lack of help to the profession on pay and staffing.

Sinn Féin’s Deputy Newsome Drennan accused Fine Gael of not understanding the difficulties of the field and the factors which have caused a large number of nurses to emigrate.

“Over the past ten years our health service has paid a heavy price because those in power have failed to value and respect our nurses,” she said. “The knowledge and expertise that we have lost to places like Australia is hard to comprehend.”

“It is that critical mindset that shows that Fine Gael simply does not understand what it is like to work as a nurse; the long unsociable hours, the chronic understaffing, the physical demand, the high patient-staff ratios and the harsh workload,” she added.

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Deputy Newsome Drennan also raised the pressures being faced at St Luke’s and its staff shortages which have consistently put the facility under strain.

“That is ever more present in St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny. Those who do their best get punished more; we see resources for hospitals going into black holes. Hospitals like St Luke’s do the very best with what they get, but they get a slap on the wrist for it,” she asserted.

“Despite these harsh conditions, day in, day out our nurses go above and beyond. They provide a level of warmth, care and support to members of the public who find themselves in need at a time of great vulnerability. That deserves more than praise, it deserves action,” she concluded.

Leas-Cheann Comhairle and Fianna Fáil Kilkenny TD, John McGuinness, echoed prior sentiments by calling for greater support for nurses and lamenting unfulfilled promises.

“I thank them for their passion for the job and for their commitment and dedication,” he said. “I also recognise that we stood in this House and applauded all of the front-line workers and made comments and statements about nurses and others.”

“Yet, we did not fulfill what is necessary, which is pay and conditions, the proper number of staff and allowing them to perform their functions which they are very good at,” he continued.

Also raising the situation in Kilkenny, Deputy McGuinness highlighted the staff shortages at St Luke’s and the need for reform in HSE hiring practices on the same day that National Ambulance Service workers were on a 24 strike.

“St Luke’s in Kilkenny is a level 3 hospital; it is short between 70 and 100 nurses. They use a lot of money to bring them in from the private sector to nurse in that hospital. When I see that, I think of the management and structure in the HSE. It is not good, it is not best practice, and it is not good business for the country,” he outlined.

“Nurses and frontline workers deserve better. If the management were any way right, or any good at all, the strikers would not be out there today. That matter would have been dealt with long before it happened.”

Related topics: Natasha Newsome Drennan Nurses St Luke’s General Hospital John McGuinness Kilkenny Sign up to our Kilkenny Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Kilkenny Live within your account.