Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We cannot usurp the Public Service Pay Commission process. That process is due to report in a matter of weeks and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has set out the process for addressing issues of pay and allowances.

I believe issues of allowances and pay will need to be looked at if we are serious about recruitment and retention in the future and I believe the public sector pay commission is the vehicle to do it. The INMO was at the public sector pay commission on Tuesday. My Department was at the public sector pay commission making these points. We are willing to do everything and anything we can to assist with the recruitment and retention issue in nursing. We cannot get into the pay and allowances space because there is a process in that regard and, as the House will be aware, there are public servants right across both the public service and the health service where there could be a contagion effect in respect of some allowances.

In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett, I would be happy to arrange to meet Karen and Sarah-Ann with him. That would be no problem at all. I accept the issue of theatre nurses has been the reason. I told Deputy McDonald it has been the reason the theatre in Crumlin, which was meant to be the principal vehicle for getting more of these operations done, has been closed. When I met the CEO of Crumlin and the director of nursing this week, they confirmed four nurses will start in April, which will enable the additional capacity. A further 16 nurses from an international campaign are going through the recruitment process and another orthopaedic consultant is due to come on stream by June. That will provide the additional capacity.

As for the orthodontic services in Loughlinstown, I will have a look at them and revert directly to the Deputy. At present, we have the HSE's operational plans for each of the hospitals giving the hospitals their budget for the coming year. I will check it and revert to the Deputy.

Deputy Brady told us of his own experience, which I appreciate him sharing with the House. The issue of school screening has been raised with me by a number of the advocacy groups. It is one of the issues I have asked be considered by the health service in the context of the action plan. I am not asking anyone to wait forever for an action plan. By the end of this month of February, we will have a plan to deal with scoliosis that will see a dramatic reduction in waiting lists and waiting times this year. It seems a logical suggestion but I believe it was changed on clinical grounds. It sounds like there is merit in it. It is being considered in the context of the action plan. I will engage with the advocacy groups on that too.

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