Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If the Deputy is looking for reassurance that absolutely every effort will be made and that there is an absolute agreement that serious engagement will continue from the point of view of the HSE, the Department and the Minister with the INMO, the Deputy has that reassurance. Every effort will be made to come to an agreement on these important issues. When we are focusing on the problems in the health service, we tend not to really pay tribute to the extraordinary work that is done for so many patients and the extraordinary successes we have seen in the health service. It is worth making that point because huge efforts are made by doctors and nurses and people get excellent treatment. Clearly, the issue of recruiting and retaining is extremely difficult. There have been open recruitment periods and recruitment remains open and continuous. Every effort is being made to attract new staff. It is worth noting that since December 2013, numbers of staff in the area have increased by 1,657. We have had that increase. The extra €1 billion that has gone into the health service for a range of issues is having an impact but there is more work to be done. As the Minister said, it is also about changing the GP contracts so more people can get better service in the community and it is also about looking at the bed capacity review. No new hospitals have been built since 1988 and we need to change that.

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