Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation. I wish to go through the challenges that are currently facing the health service. Many staff are very tired and drained because of the challenges they have had to face over the past 12 months.

The information I am getting back from a number of them is that we may very well have far more people leaving the health service over the coming 12 months because of the pressures put on them. Has an assessment been conducted of how to deal with this and give more support to staff? On a number of previous occasions I raised the issue of planning for retirements so we would know at any time how many people are to retire over a 12 to 18 month time period so we can plan for recruitment. This does not appear to be happening in the HSE. Will the Minister clarify what has been put in place to deal with this issue?

I want to ask about the €240 million care fund. My understanding is that people are being referred for assessment and then referred back to the HSE or hospital where they were initially on the waiting list without a procedure being carried out. People want to be referred for assessment and for full care procedures to be followed through without having to be referred back. Is there a proposal to revise this process? As a result, we are making no inroads on waiting lists, especially when we are referring people to the NTPF.