Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In all seriousness, how long has the Minister been saying that safe staffing levels is a top priority? I wish that we could see the real results coming from that. The question is: when is a priority actually a priority? It has been five years since the final report of the task force on safe staffing and skill mix in Nursing. The Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix in General and Specialist Medical and Surgical Care Settings in Ireland was published in 2018. It is five years then since it was published and we have seen nothing of any improvement whatsoever. In fact, many would argue that the situation is a great deal worse.

How many times have we heard of problems in the health service caused by lack of staffing and lack of capacity? It was only in December that there was what was described as a scene of "total chaos" outside Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda hospital as 11 ambulances queued because there were no trolleys and no beds to take patients into the hospital.

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