Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of the increase in staff in the HSE and in the health services. It is a welcome development. From 2014 to the end of 2016, the number of staff in an overall context has gone up to 107,085, which is an increase of 7,758. However, I have this concern about it. The number of staff in management and administration has gone from 15,120 to 16,767, that is, an increase of 1,647. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Health to the House to address this issue and to appoint an independent authority to look at the administrative structure in the HSE, how management is focused and why there is an increase in administration and management of 1,647.

I welcome the increase in care assistants by 2,142. If one looks at other areas, such as that of public health nurses, their number has gone up by only 39 in that two-year time period. In fact, in the past 12 months, their number has decreased by two. We need to look at where are the priorities in the health service. One would imagine that public health nursing is a key area in the sense that it is at the coalface, where we need staff to ensure we keep the maximum number of people out of hospitals and accident and emergency units.

We need to appoint an independent authority to look at the management structure and to see how the HSE is performing as regards value for money. We are the second highest spender on health care in the OECD. Clearly, we are not getting value for money and this is now the only way of dealing with this matter. I would ask the Leader to bring it to the attention of the Minister for Health, to have a debate here and that we would take decisive action on it. I will raise it at the Joint Committee on Health later today but it is an important issue that we cannot leave go on the way has over the past years.