Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I will move on to consider how we go forward. Over the nearly six years from December 2014 to now, the number of people working full-time in the HSE, whole-time equivalents, has gone from 103,000 to 123,000, which is an increase of 20,000 staff members. That increase obviously applies across all areas, including management, administration, care assistants, nurses and doctors. Where should the priority be in recruitment at this stage? Should it be care assistants and nurses or do we need an increase across all areas of the health sector? A question then arises regarding the kind of numbers should we be planning for over the next three years. We will be unable to introduce the necessary changes overnight but what should we be aiming for over the next three years?