Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There is just not a service for most people. It is the one area that is very out of control, from what I am hearing. It is repeatedly raised in the most tragic situations. We are talking about emergency situations, where you go with an emergency and are told to come back in 12 months. It is outrageous. I just wanted to highlight that as the kind of thing that really needs attention.

Mr. Gloster talked about a staff turnover rate of 8%. In addition to staff turnover, a huge number of women work in the health service. Some will have to take maternity leave and deal with other kinds of situations. In addition to the vacancies, do we know the numbers on maternity or sick leave?