Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and promise to confine myself to the time allocated. The problem of hospital overcrowding stretches to every part of the country. Most people's experience of it is that it is a direct result of under-staffing in hospitals. That is the nub of the issue. I was contacted this week by a nurse who is employed in a hospital through an agency. She applied for the same job directly with the hospital, was approved and a contract was drawn up. However, because the job was advertised last July and more than three months have since passed, she must seek to have her application reapproved. The people responsible for the procurement of staff told her she needed to seek someone out to get her own appointment approved. When I spoke to the people concerned, who are based in Manorhamilton, they told me that there are hundreds of health service staff around the country in the same position. There is no additional cost in securing this appointment. In fact, it is costing more to employ staff such as this nurse through agencies.

The argument is often made that the health service is in a mess because it costs so much. The reality is that it is in a mess because people are not doing their job. The Minister is the person at the very top and it is his job is to make sure other people do their job. That is not happening, however, as the experience of many people shows. If we are to get a grip on this situation, we need the Minister and the senior people in the Department to have the backbone to stand up and ensure that others do their job. I have raised concerns on numerous occasions, during Topical Issue debates and other discussions in the House, with both the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, that people in senior management in the HSE are swinging the lead. Unless something is done about this, we are all wasting our time. People are being left on long waiting lists and in queues in hospitals and, in some cases, they are ending up in the graveyard. The state of the mental health service, in particular, is a cause for serious concern. We must take control of the situation. I challenge the Minister and the Government to tackle the situation finally, four years into its current term of office and following its previous term in government. Failure to do so will be a huge indictment of the Minister and his legacy.

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