Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to ask about the Be On Call For Ireland initiative. This is a great initiative. It has really tapped into the national mood and the number of respondents was fantastic. It has been reported as 72,000. It has also been reported today that out of 14,000 candidates deemed satisfactory, that is, 14,000 qualified and registered nurses, doctors, staff who can work in medical laboratories, ambulance staff and healthcare assistants who are immediately available to work, just 1,300 are being made available for a role or have started a role. Speaking on my own behalf, I was one of the 72,000 who signed up on 17 March. As a qualified medical scientist I am one of the 14,000 but I am not one of the 1,300. Instead of waiting for a third holding email from the Be On Call For Ireland initiative in one month, I made my own arrangements through the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine. I am on standby to return to the laboratory bench in the case of a surge. Like so many others I am of course happy to do that, though I hope we do not see that surge.

That experience raises a question. We are in a crisis situation. Why is more not being done to maximise the potential of this initiative? What are we doing to ensure that applications will be processed more quickly? These staff are seriously needed on the front line in our nursing homes, our residential care facilities and elsewhere.

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