Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

We need to lift up the bonnet. It is very simple. If additional beds are required, as the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Sláintecare report tell us we need, staffing needs to be planned around those and getting to that point. We are not doing that. In fact, we are doing the opposite. We are closing the lid firmly on recruitment. It is simply counterproductive. The staff in our grades, nursing and midwifery particularly, are not hanging around. They are going to the UK, and particularly now, with the emphasis on Brexit, the UK has become extremely active in recruiting from the Republic of Ireland on the basis that it is not getting nurses who will travel to work from other European countries. We have a real problem. The Deputy said that he has written to Paul Reid, we have written to him also. We believe that the solution is very simple. One should look at the 2017 workforce plan and do what is supposed to be done in accordance with the agreement we have under the Workplace Relations Commission, that is, an agreed, funded, workforce plan for nursing and midwifery. If there is a need to pause, then one pauses but one makes sure those posts are filled because they are essential.