Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As nobody else wishes to come in, I will come in at this point. I raise the issue of health services and issues that may go on. This may not be within the remit of the HSA, but it might deal with the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, and others. Yesterday, the nurses’ union spoke of how 4,000 nurses have been assaulted in the course of duty over the last number of years. Some hospitals are under massive pressure. I will not mention the hospital, but it is under pressure every single day and it is in the news almost every day. The staff that we, as elected representatives, meet there tell us that their working conditions are not safe. It is not safe for them and it is not safe for their patients. Does the HSA visit hospitals on a regular basis? Does it go there with HIQA? Does it go unannounced? What is the story there? The witnesses might come back to me on that, but I am particularly interested in the area of emergency departments.