Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Talking about planning of staff, I am sure other Deputies will have the same experience as my own. Mr. Mulvany talked about planning, growing staff and so on. Is it not the case that in the "living within your means" part of what he is saying, what we are seeing now is that acute hospitals and community hospitals are not replacing staff who are on maternity leave in many cases? This can be planned for. I do not believe there is a baby boom this year and there is always a certain percentage of staff in the health service who will be taking maternity leave during the course of the year. Is it not the case that what is happening is because of the new policy of not sanctioning replacements for maternity leave cover and other cover, which means we now have major gaps in services?