Student nurses and midwives are to get extra allowances for meals and subsistence, as part of a €9 million package first recommended in a 2021 review report.
Nurses and midwives will receive €500 a year during years one to three of their studies, to cover the extra costs of meals associated with practice placements outside of the student's core placement site.
A new rate of €80 for overnight accommodation is being introduced, along with an increased weekly cap of €300 for students who need accommodation away from their normal place of residence, while attending practice placements.
Student nurses and midwives can also avail of the reasonable cost of uniform laundry services, during periods of overnight accommodation, on a vouched basis.
They will also get two extra uniforms at the start of their internship.
Pay is to be reinstated at 80% of first year staff nurse/midwife pay scale for internship students.
The enhanced and travel and subsistence supports agreed by Government will be backdated to the start of the current academic year from September 2022.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has welcomed the measures approved by Cabinet.
It said these measures are an important step in supporting student nurses and midwives, but also in building measures to retain them on qualification.
"Students are affected by the same cost-of-living challenges as their qualified colleagues, with many of them struggling to meet the costs of transportation, fuel, heating, accommodation, and other necessities for completing their training," said Roisin O'Connell, INMO Student and New Graduate Officer.
"This includes the cost of accommodation away from home during placements, which is simply unaffordable for students," she said.
The INMO said it will now seek a meeting with the Department of Health officials to look at the details and implementation measures surrounding the report recommendations.
"The McHugh report was aimed at bringing allowances for student nurses and midwives in line with the expenses they always incur as part of their training," Ms O'Connell said.
"But it was also important to recognise the additional challenges placed on students during the pandemic and the huge contribution they made to the frontline workforce," she added.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Ms O'Connell said today's decision is a "really positive" outcome.
"I do think it's really going to help to encourage students to stay. If they’re treated well as students, they’ll find it hard to leave," she said.
