Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will get another chance in a minute, so it would be appreciated if he could give me a little opportunity to respond. Does he accept that 9,375 additional nurses and midwives are now working in the health service compared with 2020, that there are 4,092 health and social care professionals additional to 2020 or that there are an additional 3,330 doctors and dentists? Those are facts I am putting on the record of the House. They are not numbers. They are real people who get up out of bed every day and go to work in our hospitals and health service. They work damn hard and make good progress for our patients. That is the first thing.

There is a real issue, which I have acknowledged clearly and the Deputy is right to highlight, when it comes to radiation therapy. I have had a number of meetings specifically about this, including with the Irish Cancer Society. There are radiation therapist vacancies in radiation oncology centres. There are vacant posts and they are still available to be recruited. They are funded. Measures have been taken to address international recruitment of radiation therapists, including a recent change to CORU's requirements for practice hours to bring Ireland into line with international practice. Additional training places were introduced for radiation therapists during the past academic year. There are plans to further expand courses in Trinity College Dublin and UCC to meet expected future demand. Funding for advanced practice posts for radiation therapists was recently announced in budget 2025. I accept fully that there are real challenges when it comes to radiation therapy. The Deputy's point about equipment that is there and could be further utilised if we filled these posts is true. That is something the Minister for Health and the Government are working on and I have outlined what we are trying to do in respect of that.

When it comes to waiting lists, though, the Deputy is not acknowledging facts about them either. Countries across Europe are reporting increased pressure on waiting lists. In England, waiting lists had climbed to 7.6 million by June 2024. That means inpatient day case hospital waiting lists have climbed by 80% in England since the start of the pandemic. In Northern Ireland, on a per capita basis the figure is effectively double the comparable figure for Ireland. In Scotland, waiting lists have increased by 96%. Here in Ireland, waiting lists have now fallen for two years in a row, as have waiting times. That is what doctors will tell the Deputy. They will also tell him they are too high, and we agree with that and we want to continue to make progress on that.

If the Deputy wants to talk about truth, he has to have an honest debate. Waiting times are falling. Staff numbers are increasing. Budgets are increasing. More people are working in the public health service than ever before and we want to continue that journey, but this idea that we are not hiring anyone does not stand up to scrutiny.

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