Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I have to hand a copy of the Dublin North East Service Plan. I find no more dynamic contingency planning within this than I did within the national service plan, which was introduced a couple of weeks ago. It is important to deal with this because it is the only specific information we have. I expect it will be replicated in the other three regions of the HSE. It actually demonstrates that, by 29 February, we will witness the retirement of a further 400 staff. Worryingly, we also learn, for the first time, that a further 551 staff "will need to leave the service this year". It is not a case of voluntary retirements but it is stated very definitely that they will need to leave the service. Will the Minister acknowledge that the departure of 961 health service staff within one region will have devastating consequences for service delivery and, make no mistake about it, for patient safety, which is something the Minister is not happy to address?

Will the Minister confirm that what we are looking at in this plan is what presents across Dublin mid-Leinster, the west and south? The plan states there will be no replacement in terms of recruiting priority staff who will have left until such time as the entirety of this exodus is achieved.

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