Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. He is quite right to identify that there is a problem, particularly in Dublin. While there has been an increase in the numbers of nursing staff generally, we are struggling in the recruitment of public health nurses. Several measures have been taken by the HSE to try to remedy this, including an equivalence in terms of salary scales and other incentives to try to bring more public health nurses into the health service. I recognise, however, that the work is not complete and there is a shortage. The work that is being done is prioritising urgent care, including newborn checks and so on, but I recognise this is a stress for parents of young children in particular and we really are working to try to get it remedied through those different incentive mechanisms.

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