Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his supportive comments in terms of moving in this direction. I want to start by acknowledging the really extraordinary dedication our healthcare professionals have shown. To the Deputy's question, we have seen an unprecedented growth in that workforce. One of the things we must do, obviously, in moving from five to seven days is increase the workforce. As the Deputy will be aware, we have added nearly 21,000 additional healthcare professionals into our health and social care services since 2020. In spite of this, we are still seeing an unacceptable number of patients waiting on trolleys in too many hospitals. While there have been important reductions in the waiting list, much more needs to be done to achieve the targets to which we all signed up.

Government has been very clear in supporting an unprecedented expansion of capacity within our health service in parallel with fundamental reform of how that care is delivered through the regional health areas, chronic disease management, moving care into the community, e-health and so forth. I acknowledge that there are hospitals, such as in the Deputy's constituency in Waterford, that are already rostering staff right through the weekend. This is different to being on call. We need to acknowledge that many staff are on call over the weekends anyway. This is about rostered staff. The Deputy and I are both aware of the very positive effect that has had on the lack of patients on trolleys. Really, achieving that across the country and accelerating the reduction in the waiting lists is what we are seeking to do by moving from five to seven days.

The Deputy will be aware that nurses and junior doctors are already rostered. If any of us were to go into a hospital at 3 a.m. on any given night, we would find junior doctors and nursing staff already there. The new consultant contract is another piece of this, and there needs to be engagement with the health and social care professionals. The chief executive officer, Mr. Bernard Gloster, and I, for example, engaged with Fórsa recently at its annual conference in Galway on exactly this discussion.

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