Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Moynihan who made me aware of the very difficult and serious case of somebody's surgery, which I have had investigated. The very honest answer to the question is that we have a health system which lost 12,000 staff during the years of economic recession in the country and we have put back 6,000 of 12,000 staff but we need not pat ourselves on the back because we need at least another 6,000 to get us back to where we were before the financial collapse. Continued investment in our public health service to ensure there is adequate capacity in terms of staffing numbers, consultant posts, as Deputy Moynihan's colleague mentioned, and front-line staff is absolutely the answer. This is in regard to the specific question about ensuring someone receives an initial consultation. If the person needs a procedure after this initial consultation, how do we make sure this can be done as quickly as possible? I do not think now should be the time for ideological debate. It needs to be a time for pragmatism. If we have a vehicle like the NTPF, which can assist and work alongside public hospitals, it can move along the backlog. I am absolutely committed to continuing to increase the number of front-line staff. This is why we are seeing some delays because we still need more front-line staff in our hospitals.

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