David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand that and I have limited time. My point is it will take us a long time to get to where we need to get to, simply because of how many staff the HSE trains every year versus how many are needed, and that is my concern, not least because of the burnout and difficulties and challenges the service's members face. I have heard from many of them over recent months, in different parts of the country when I have visited various constituencies, that it will take an awfully long time to deliver on that. I will leave it at that because the prioritisation of resources is a political issue.

I raised this final point with the representatives from SIPTU. I engage with many paramedics and the vast majority love their job. They are working in very difficult circumstances at the moment and, obviously, Covid has made everything more difficult for everybody. There is considerable additional demand on the system and people are out sick. It is the same everywhere in healthcare; it is very difficult. I have also met paramedics who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and many of them have told me - I am relaying this to Mr. Morton and Mr. Woods - that their experience has not been good and that they have not been properly supported. What are the processes? We know how difficult and challenging being an ambulance paramedic is. They have to respond to very difficult calls and, at times, see children in great distress. They have told me they have had really bad experiences and some of them have left the job. Some of them have expressed hesitancy about going back on the front line after bad experiences without being properly supported. Will our guests explain the process in order that I can better understand it?