James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I will do my best. I remind the Minister that she did not read out the full paragraph of the report, as follows: "The external report found that while the number of clerical, administrative and managerial staff compared favourably with those in similarly public owned health services in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, there were too many staff at senior level." These are our famous grade eights of which there were six in 2000 and the last time I asked the Minister there were 714; perhaps it is gone up since then. When the Minister has the information she might tell us the current figure.

The report also said the proportionate number of managers within the overall clerical, administrative and managerial ranks was slightly higher than the UK National Health Service. Would the Minister not agree that at the formation of the HSE she and her Government failed to bite the bullet? They merged 11 companies and promised everybody they would not have to move job and that nobody would lose their job. This was an impossible starting place. As her Government failed to bite the bullet, patients are choking and dying on that bullet.

In the past the Minister has said it would be premature to speculate about the appropriate staffing levels, yet we have report after report after report. How many reports does the Minister need before she takes action? Will she indicate when this much-needed re-balancing in the HSE away from administration and to the front line will take place? Will it be done as a matter of urgency? Has she any time lines by which she can measure it or will it be more fudge and fuddle?

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