Alan Kelly (Labour)

I would like to be associated with the comments on mental health of Senators White and Harris. It is a worthy debate, there is an element of stigma associated with this topic that must be addressed.

As a result of the way in which the HSE is managing its business, there will be knock-on effects in other areas that the House should know about. Given the management style of the HSE, where it manages by budget instead of demand, the knock-on effect will be felt by the emergency services. We are all conscious of what has happened to firefighters recently but another arm of the emergency services faces an impending crisis, the ambulance service.

I have been contacted by ambulance personnel in the mid-west who are in dire straits. As a result of the decision of the HSE to manage by budget instead of demand, and the consequent cap on recruitment that resulted in closures of wards in hospitals such as Nenagh General Hospital——