Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is the same script but a different day. The Taoiseach mentioned that the Government will help patients catch up. The only catching up that will be done will be done by nurses and doctors when this strike is over. The Taoiseach and his colleagues will not have to play catch-up. Did I hear the Taoiseach correctly when he said that he did not send any direct letter to the nursing unions in terms of last night's offer and that no direct contact was made? The Taoiseach said he will make sure it will not happen again. Is the Taoiseach serious? This is a very grave dispute, and that is a pathetic response. Has the Taoiseach reprimanded his Ministers? What were they doing last night? Was it just a cynical PR exercise? It is not good enough to say that unions did not engage. The unions have been engaged with the HSE about strike action for a long time. It is appalling that the Taoiseach should come here today and effectively say that the Government engaged in optics over this issue last night and that it did not make any direct contact with the unions over the offer that was announced last night. He clearly just wanted to be seen to be doing something. It was all done for the optics. That is appalling and a pathetic way to approach such a grave dispute. The Taoiseach should read up on the issues and not remain in denial about the recruitment and retention crisis. It is very real. We are haemorrhaging so many graduates from our colleges to the UK and other countries. I suggest that the Taoiseach should appoint someone of the calibre of Mr. Kieran Mulvey to engage in mediation and to create an environment in which both sides can get together.

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