Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This question may be very cynical. In the next five years, we are looking at maybe 1,700 retirements within psychiatric services. We have a backlog or void caused by approximately 500 positions that have yet to be filled because people cannot be recruited. If the service is already short 500 staff and 1,700 more are set to retire, a shortfall of 2,200 staff could arise within five years. If we do not address this gap in the next five years, will there be an emergency in the service? Can the witnesses see it imploding or just disappearing?