Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

When will the health service recruitment ban be lifted? It is affecting real people, especially the over-75s. It is June, yet, yesterday morning 33 people were on trolleys in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. That number, unfortunately, has repeated itself today. There are 43 in Cork today and 34 in Galway, which is unprecedented for June. This is because these hospitals are not allowed to recruit the nurses who have actually been cleared to take up roles in hospitals such as Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. There is a deficit of 71 whole-time equivalent nursing professionals in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. That is 71 fewer nurses than there should be. Management, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and SIPTU are firefighting to support patients and to support stricken staff.

Bernard Gloster, the head of the HSE, is in the media today talking up the possibility of the removal of the recruitment ban and saying that it will be lifted soon. When will the HSE recruitment ban be lifted?

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