Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the new drug and alcohol strategy launched by the Government, but Fianna Fáil has some concerns the strategy does not go far enough. The most obvious gap in the strategy is that many of the initiatives are aspirational, with a lack of tangible deadlines and commitments. The report is not costed and will require significant investment. Many charities, such as the Simon Community, which Senator Devine and I visited recently, are stepping into the gap. We visited a Simon Community site in Dublin 8 that specialises in detox beds for drug rehabilitation and it has plans for more beds. I hope the Government can look at supporting projects such as these, which stand into the breach when the Government has failed.

Ultimately the strategy is vague on timeframes and resources. I very much welcome the aspects of the report which deal with services for pregnant women suffering from drug and alcohol addiction and the various provisions on mental health actions in the report. The report is crucial in terms of trying to deal with how addiction affects families, children and our communities. I welcome the fact we are following a public health led attack on addiction rather than a criminal justice focused approach.

I also wish to raise the issue of public service recruitment and retention. I raised this issue last week and I spoke about recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces. Today I wish to raise the issue of recruitment and retention of nurses. According to the INMO, patient care in St. Finbarr's Hospital in Cork is significantly compromised due to shortages of nurses, and patients are in jeopardy. This is an issue throughout the health services. Recently we saw in Cherry Orchard the closure of the Linn Dara adolescent mental health ward due to staff shortages. This is an urgent matter not only in the health service and Defence Forces but throughout the public sector. I call on the Minister to come to the House and outline his strategy on staff recruitment and, ultimately, retention.