Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I certainly believe in the credibility of this report because it is like for like across the board with other countries in Europe. We have to take it seriously and as far as I am concerned, it is factual and credible.

With regard to the staffing and resourcing of our hospitals, it was very worrying to hear this morning that the representative of the consultants and doctors group has denied the report from the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, that there has been an agreement on recruitment and salary scales. That issue must be addressed in the coming days and I ask the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health to get stuck into it because it is clear that we are not prioritising the appointment of medical staff. Our nurses are under severe pressure as a result of an exodus of very well-qualified people who have left this country to seek work abroad because of various anomalies. Recruitment of nurses is a priority.

We must also build up our community care systems. It is clear in the report that community care across Europe is top class and accessible to the public. We are falling down in that area. There were aspirations to build up our community services but we have not reached our targets and are falling far short in that regard.

The necessary funding should be made available for the fair deal scheme. It costs €700,000 a day to keep our patients in hospital beds who need to be discharged to nursing homes. That is a waste of money. We must make the appropriate money available for that scheme, and we must also make available the necessary home care packages. I ask that this matter be taken seriously in the coming weeks.

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