Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Last week we in the Dáil passed a Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Health of €195 million, which is additional to the huge extra funding that has been put into that Department over recent years. I do a lot of voluntary work for the hospice, as do so many other citizens. The hospices in Limerick, in Milford, in my area, in Raheny, which is in Deputy Broughan's area, and in Cork are all recruiting staff nurses, doctors and other staff from the general HSE system. I do not think it is the Minister's intention but he is in effect asking somebody who leaves, for example, Connolly or Beaumont hospitals to go to St. Francis Hospice in Raheny or Blanchardstown to take, from this year on, a reduction of up to 3% in basic pay. Does the Minister as a manager understand the difficulty that poses for the hospices? It is almost impossible to continue to recruit with a drop in pay levels for those transferring.

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