General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing

That this House notes that, during the West Belfast festival in August 2023, Pat Cullen, the General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), is reported to have made a comment about reunification being the only hope for the NHS; setting aside the irony that there is no NHS in existence in the Irish Republic, recognises that the RCN has a membership in Northern Ireland that crosses religious and political boundaries and exists to improve working conditions for all nurses; is concerned that, six months later and after several requests made in writing, there has been no response from the union on the accuracy or otherwise of the comments nor any subsequent explanation; and expresses the hope that the RCN can publicly state that any controversial comments, such as those reported, do not reflect the professionalism and integrity of the RCN.