Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First of all, there is ongoing recruitment. There are now 25,000 more people working in the health service since 2020. That includes nurses and consultants. The number of consultants employed in our health service has gone up 42%. We are continuing to recruit, there is ongoing recruitment and funding was put into the Estimates for additional numbers in 2025. However, the attendances are also going up. An ageing population is putting pressure on our emergency departments. What is working best is a whole-of-hospital approach to emergency departments.

It is producing results in several hospitals. There has been analysis of certain hospitals of what has been happening within them and so on. Recruitment is ongoing and we are committed to affordable recruitment of nursing staff as well as investment in capacity-----

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