Updated 1.30pm - Added GWU statement

Carers working at St Vincent de Paule nursing home play a vital role in the public health system and have gradually filled voids created by nurses focusing on other duties, two unions have said.  

In separate statements, both UHM - Voice of the Workers and the General Workers Union said that unionised carers at St Vincent de Paule were qualified and trained for their duties. 

The two unions were reacting to claims by the president of nurses' union MUMN claiming that "illiterate" carers who slept during their shifts were taking nurses' places at the nursing home.

In its statement, UHM hinted that nurses' union MUMN was cranking up its attacks against carers because its members felt threatened by an increase in the number of carers employed.  

"Why did the number of carers increase? Because MUMN issued directives telling nurses not to wash senior citizens, with that job falling to carers," UHM said, saying that as a result the government had to employ more carers to keep up with the amount of work. 

WATCH: 'Illiterate carers who sleep during their shifts', MUMN charges

In its reply, UHM highlighted the distinction between carers hired by private contractors and those it represents, which are employed directly by the state. 

The MUMN, it added, should analyse its own sector of workers and sort out problems there "before pointing fingers at others." 

On its part, the GWU said that all health sector professionals working with the elderly played a vital role in ensuring the system ran smoothly. 

"Patients and resident can testify as to the dedication of these carers," the GWU said. "It is essential that workers in such a delicate sector work together in a cooperative spirit for the country's benefit," it added.