Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

From today, the crisis in our health service will deepen. This morning, 6,500 psychiatric nurses began industrial action in a dispute over unsustainable staffing levels. On Monday, a further 80,000 healthcare workers are planning to start a strict work to rule. At the core of this dispute is the pay and numbers strategy, a strategy which none of us has seen. This so-called strategy is just a recruitment embargo by another name. It has led to the introduction of severe recruitment caps, the abolition of thousands of funded posts and failure to fill maternity leave vacancies. These posts have disappeared overnight but patient need has not. Community waiting lists spiral. Infant developmental checks have been missed and radiotherapy machines lie idle. Why? Because if there is no staff, there are no services. Will the Taoiseach immediately publish the pay and numbers strategy? Will he undertake credible workforce planning and honour the previous commitment to these funded posts and provide for safe staffing levels across our health services? This crisis cannot be allowed to continue.

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