Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government includes ambitious plans for the recruitment of additional nurses and midwives. In fact, that undertaking is mentioned in no fewer than five sections of the document. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, is scheduled to take industrial action next Tuesday and while talks are taking place at the Workplace Relations Commission, the proposed action has not been cancelled. We all know this situation has come about as a result of chronic underfunding, dire working conditions and serious issues surrounding pay. Together with the failure to recruit, we now have a crisis of staff retention, with personnel leaving in their droves. Many of us have spoken to nurses who rediscovered their grá for their profession after going abroad for work, where they were treated fairly and enjoyed a proper working environment, compared with the stressful, dire conditions they endured here. What does the Government propose to do to meet the targets set out in the programme for Government? What is the plan to begin the work of addressing the chronic shortage of nurses and midwives in our creaking health service?

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