Simon Harris has announced that student nurses will be paid for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis.
The Health Minister made the confirmation this evening after a wide call for a number of TDs.
Labour leadership candidate and Tipperary TD Alan Kelly said they deserved to be paid as they were "on the frontline".
“Student nurses like many healthcare professionals are putting themselves out on the frontline working to protect us from the spread of Covid-19, but unlike many of their colleagues in our hospitals they are not being paid," he said.
In a live televised address to the nation on St Patrick’s Day, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar paid tribute to those workers saying he was “proud” of the members of his family who work in the sector.
“Not all superheroes wear capes - some wear scrubs and gowns,” he said.
