Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire fosta agus go n-éirí an t-ádh leis ina phost nua. I extend solidarity to the staff at Our Lady of Lourdes and especially to the nurses and midwives who do a remarkable job in very difficult circumstances. They also are on a work to rule at this time. Many of our hospitals and nurses are at breaking point. In the past 48 hours there were 537 patients on trolleys, 52 of whom were in Our Lady of Lourdes. I know of one woman who has been on a trolley since 3 o'clock yesterday. This is a direct result of the Government's health policy. The chaos in our hospital system will not be resolved by either Fine Gael's or Fianna Fáil's two-tier approach to health or by the recruitment embargo. There is no point in the Minister denying a recruitment embargo when recruitment is conditional upon the hospital having the resources and these are being withheld. I ask the Minister to instruct the HSE to lift the embargo and to resource the employment of staff needed to fulfil outstanding vacancies.

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