Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste gave out a lot of statistics but he did not point to the fact that services have had to increase, and rightly so. He also did not point to the fact that there are big increases in the population. He also did not indicate how much of the new staffing is on the basis of hire of agency workers. These workers are more expensive and often have considerably less skill and experience in the particular hospital. The Tánaiste says he does not believe that it merits industrial action. He should listen to the nurses, porters, the staff in the medical records' offices and the housekeeping staff. In many cases, these people are the Tánaiste's constituents and they are telling me and they are telling the Tánaiste that they are over stretched, burnt out, stressed out and demoralised. A blanket of statistics cannot be placed over that to deny the real human experience.

The Government will ignore this issue at its peril. These protests are gaining strength around the country. This is a snowball effect that is happening in the hospitals among the health service workers. Whether the election takes place in February or in November it looks to me like the Government is running smack into that mood among the health service workers. This will be a general election issue.

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