Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----Deputy O'Dea now switches tack to two or three other issues. I will now take each of the points he made in sequence. The Government is not dismissing out of hand the study conducted for the INMO. I told the Deputy in my reply that the Minister for Health would examine the results of that study when it is available. Deputy O'Dea will agree that it is prudent, if not courteous to those who produced it, that we at least await its publication and examine, in detail, what it contains. I said to the Deputy, clearly, that the Minister for Health will do that.

In respect of the reductions in staff that have taken place in the health service, I again pay tribute to the staff who work in our health services, including nursing staff, who have been flexible and adaptable and who are providing the best possible level of care to patients.

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