Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is worth pointing out that this is all happening against the backdrop of 13% of medical scientists' posts being vacant. Staff are being attracted out of the public health service. Many are going into the private sector. We have a booming pharmaceutical industry. There are many jobs outside the public health system. With morale low, the increase in demand and pressures on staff in the public health system, and the stubbornly high levels of vacancy, it is understandable how demoralised these staff continue to feel. Negotiations have been ongoing and there was a degree of positivity to those negotiations. These workers are not feeling it in terms of full laboratories, full complements of staff nor in their pay packets yet. I cannot overemphasise how demoralised these staff continue to feel at what they see as the lack of progress.

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