Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is immediately obvious to some people within the service. There are some who claim within the service that is the way they see it. I agree with the assessment in respect of HSE staff but they have traditionally been over-employed in the health services. That is going back 20 years. There was always the reliance on agency staff and they became greater than the cause. Then those numbers grew and grew. For one reason or another, the ratio of agency staff to permanent staff has always grown but it has always been a problem within the health services. That is a fact. I have been there.