Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----to ensure that the patient care we expect and that we need to deliver for people in hospitals, particularly through a pressurised winter period, can be as good as it possibly can be. The Taoiseach, in his usual style, was honest and upfront about one of the problems with regard to the Christmas period where there is a challenge around rostering and ensuring that senior team leaders in particular are there in person through that time of year, which is obviously a family time for many people, but we have got to prioritise patient care, even at Christmas time. That was the point the Taoiseach was making, and in my view he made it in a fair and direct way. What he is saying is that we need to work together, and the Minister, Deputy Harris, has reinforced this, to ensure we have the rostering procedures in place to ensure that senior people in particular and their teams are available at times when hospitals are most pressurised so that patient care is the No. 1 priority, as opposed to anything else, during rostering at this difficult time of year. That was the point he was making.

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