David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to come now to agency staff, which Mr. Woods mentioned as being one of the issues. According to figures I have from parliamentary questions submitted by one of my colleagues, agency spend by all of our acute hospitals has doubled since 2011, going from €158 million to €293 million. We seem to have a greater dependency on agency staff. Mr. Woods may be in a position to answer my question as to whether we are getting good value for money. Is this the best way to deliver healthcare, having such dependence on agency staff? Why has expenditure gone from €158 million to €293 million since 2011?