Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I suggest that another issue be added to the criteria would be the amount of money being spent, particularly within the health service, on agencies to fill the gaps. I point to the example of Erris in County Mayo, an area that is physically the same size as County Louth, where there is currently no public physiotherapy service. Can the Minister imagine County Louth without such a service? There is a difficulty in recruiting physiotherapists and the posts are currently being filled by agency staff. That also applies to occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and general nursing. I heard reports of a freedom of information request on the money being spent to recruit nurses from abroad. Representatives of our hospital groups are travelling abroad to recruit nurses while we are exporting nurses out of the country.

As another assist in terms of looking at the cost of this, can we look at the amount of money that is being spent on agencies, particularly within the health service? That money might be better invested in putting more comprehensive pay packages in place. However, it is not just a question of pay. It is also a question of HR policies within the public service that have not been adapted or updated to reflect modern ways of working and of career development.

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