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

If that is the case, why is it that procedures are cancelled because of a shortage of theatre nurses? Why is it that our child health programmes and our vaccination programmes are hopelessly inadequate in terms of coverage as a result of the lack of public health nurses? This is the evidence before the Minister's eyes, yet the Government continues to create the impression that there is no problem in this area. We all know there is a problem. Anyone who has any interaction with the health service knows there is a serious problem there as a result of those challenges. The longer this goes on and the longer a situation is allowed to continue where we are losing significant numbers of nurses, the heavier the burden becomes on those who remain, the more stressful the job becomes and the more incentive there is for those people to move on also.

This morning the Minister said he was genuine about engagement with the nurses. Will he ensure that people get around the table as soon as possible and that they do so in a constructive manner? Will he remove any preconditions in order that there can be open and frank discussions?

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