John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the Government is adamant that the downsizing of the public service has saved the country a great deal of money, despite its catastrophic impact on public services. Many people are not buying the Government's line that the reduction of almost 30,000 in public service numbers since 2008 is a success story. Would the Minister agree that the exodus from the public service has hit the front line hardest and has resulted in a disastrous draining of knowledge, skills, experience and expertise that has been developed over many years? I will give two examples. As a result of the loss of almost 5,000 posts in the health service, some 160,000 people have been on Waterford Regional Hospital's waiting list for up to 12 months, some 46,000 people have been on the list for over a year and some 570 patients have been on the list for more than four years. In the education sector, approximately 400 posts are currently being filled by teaching staff who are in receipt of pension payments even though many newly qualified teachers are being forced to emigrate. Can the Minister clarify whether the Cabinet has an actual strategy to deal with the impact on services of these job losses? If there is such a strategy, everybody would be pleased to hear about it. The Minister mentioned the delivery of services. I have given two examples - in the health and education systems - of services that are not being delivered.

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