John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to bring the Minister back to one figure. He said €60 million was available for the next two years, but only €10 million of that is for 2020.

That is putting stuff into the never-never. A figure of €10 million will equate to 160 whole-time equivalents. This is minuscule compared to what is needed. The announcement sounds positive but stretching it out over two years will mean that its immediate effect will be minimal, which is the issue I continually have. We talk about the need for 1,000 extra GPs, 1,200 extra practice nurses and 1,100 public health nurses but we are nowhere near achieving those targets. Every time we make an announcement, it puts something over a period of two years and we just roll on. Who knows where we will be in 2021? The Minister and I might not even be here. We need action now. The figure of €60 million sounds positive but in reality, putting only €10 million into next year is window dressing.

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