Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The difficulty is that the constant line from the Minister, his Department and the Government is that there is no evidence of any difficulty in recruiting and retaining nurses. That is the line that is being put out, and it is entirely unhelpful to the current situation. It flies in the face of the evidence before our eyes. The HSE has said that difficulties in recruitment and retention pose a major challenge to its ability to meet the demand for health services. The HSE knows; it is dealing with this problem on a daily basis. It tries to find cover for its services, whether at hospital level or community level. It has made a clear statement that this is a constant challenge. In light of that, and in light of the fact that we are spending €2 million per week on agency nurses, why does the HSE have to travel all around the world, paying very substantial recruitment costs and still not managing to get enough nurses, why is the Minister in denial?

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