Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, that is exactly what it is. I thank Ms Ní Sheaghdha for that. Some really good progress was made by the INMO over the last two years in terms of getting agreed safe staffing levels. When I go into the acute hospitals, what the doctors and nurse managers say is that they do not have the nurses on the ward. I was in a hospital recently and one nurse seemed to be doing all the work in two wards. I looked and I thought that she looked very young, so I went and had a chat with her. Of course, she is young; she is a student and not a qualified nurse. The INMO made good progress in terms of the research and then, I thought, agreement with Government to get to safe staffing levels. Certainly, I know my own anecdotal experience of our healthcare system and while it may be I am wandering into the least staffed wards around, I bet I am not. Has there been any progress on getting to safe staffing levels for nurses and midwives?