Phil Prendergast (Labour)

I want to say a few words about the HSE. What was witnessed last night on "Prime Time Investigates" and "The Frontline" is not at all unusual. The continuation of the moratorium on recruitment and the fact there are 120 public health nurse positions vacant is crippling the provision of care for the elderly and others in the heath services. Carers provide care for millions of hours, many unpaid, each week. It was terrible to see on last night's television programme that vital supplies such as nappies etc. were not available to people to care for their loved ones. This is not a situation about which anybody wants to speak or witness, as we did last night. If public health nurse positions are not filled, people will continue to find themselves in the situation evidenced in last night's television programme.

The HSE seems to be a bureaucratic animal which is not delivering the best care. There seems to be competition between areas and services provided are very unequal. What is provided in one constituency is not available in another. We constantly hear stories about inefficiencies and inadequacies in the HSE and how its services are delivered. It is certainly not delivering for the people, the staff working in facilities or the vulnerable in our society. We should have an urgent debate on what it is doing, whom it is accountable to and why the Minister of State must seek legal advice in order to gain access to files. What kind of bureaucracy has been created, although not by those on this side of the House?