Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

More than 1 million people are now on waiting lists for various medical treatments and consultations, a stark increase from the situation when the current Government took office. The public health service is grappling with a severe shortage of staff, which is directly affecting the ability of healthcare professionals to provide safe and effective care. The understaffing issue is not just a matter of numbers. It has profound implications for patient safety and the well-being of existing staff. That is a fact. At the end of this, the Minister will refer, as the Taoiseach and Tánaiste do every day, to 25,000 extra staff having been recruited. How many of these people are front-line staff? This is the problem. How many of them are pen-pushers and managers? We have managers and more managers. It is an intolerable situation. There is a recruitment moratorium and vacant positions. The growing waiting lists are an impact of staff shortages. The shortage of staff has several detrimental effects on the healthcare system, such as an increased workload for existing staff. There are also longer waiting times and reduced quality of care. Those are three simple and basic facts. It is just not acceptable that this carries on under Government after Government.

When I first came in here, the budget for the HSE and the Department of Health was €5 billion. It is now €25 billion or €26 billion, and growing. A Supplementary Estimate was passed last week. Where is the accountability? Is anybody holding these people to account? So much good work is going on. The good front-line staff and nurses give their lives and work so hard. They are dedicated, only to be tricked around like this. The Government says there is no moratorium on recruitment, yet there is one. The people doing this work are sick and tired of it. They are doing their best but many of them are getting injured and the fatigue and stress levels and everything else make it impossible for them to continue. The situation is going backwards rather than forwards.

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