Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

Like others, I expressed on Tuesday and express again today my concern about the nurses having to take industrial action in the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. Last Monday week I visited the hospital to see a friend of mine who was a patient there. I was desperately sorry for the staff. The overcrowding was appalling, there were queues of people and the noise levels and mayhem there were most unfortunate. I happened to go through the accident and emergency area to see the patient. I fully understand, therefore, why the frustration levels of staff have reached the point where they have gone on strike.

The Minister must deal with this problem and we must be careful about how we deal with these things. The Minister, Deputy Reilly, is doing a good job. He inherited an absolute mess. The health service is difficult to get right but the Minister has the right policies, attitude and experience as a medical doctor. We must work with him and people must be patient. I call on the Leader to suggest to the Minister, Deputy Reilly, ahead of coming to the House to address it and debate the issue, that we should consider more partnership approaches within the health services.

Next February, thousands will retire from the public service. Many of these would be willing and able to give some voluntary time to assist in getting the country back working again. There should be some scheme whereby the expertise these people have is not lost to the country through retirement and instead could be harnessed and brought in as part of a voluntary programme, not only in the health service but throughout the public service.