Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is at breaking point. The nurses and the front-line staff are also at breaking point. Every single ward and department is short staffed every day. Consider the nurses in their continued dedication and their caring professionalism every single day despite the stressful and Third World conditions which they endure daily. It is not just affecting Our Lady of Lourdes. Nurses provide the same level of caring professionalism right throughout our public health service under the most stressful conditions. It is something this Government ought to be ashamed of and the questions must be asked.

What type of Government allows this chaos to continue for so long in our public health service? What type of Government consistently fails to see the urgency of these issues or to resolve them? There are 104 whole-time equivalent posts still to be filled. Is this a Government hell-bent on running down our public health service? If that is not the case, what plan has the new Minister for the public health service? What is his new, innovative recruitment drive campaign for nurses? Perhaps the Minister will tell the House what that plan is and explain to Deputies what is new about it and what is going to be different from the past five years of this Government. Perhaps, given the urgency of the situation, the Minister will also clarify if there is a timeframe attached to the recruitment. The Minister should know that the public is 100% behind our nurses. The public is also 100% behind our public health service and it is high time the Minister and the Government supported the nurses and the public health service with resources, funding and staff.

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