Máire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the statements made earlier by various Senators about listening yesterday to the incredulous, polite interview with Dr. Scally. His frustration was palpable on the "Six One" news on RTÉ. The HSE does not get that everything is changed, changed utterly. It is still in the mindset of circling the wagons and protecting its own interests. It seems oblivious to the need for change agents.

I also want to bring up the public service pay and stability agreement. Commitments were given that findings would issue in June but seem now to be put off until July if not later. I am talking about health service staff. The HSE is failing to meet the targeted staffing needs for the funding of an agreed workforce plan for the year 2017. It has not got a plan yet for this year. We know about the chaos in our health system because of a lack of caring staff. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, is warning of a winter of discontent because we need clarity from the pay and stability agreement. We need clarity that there will be action on the pay, conditions and recruitment of staff which is vital to our health service and which is getting seriously worse each and every day. The burnout is large scale. The HSE is double counting student nurses and adding them to the numbers to cover up the shortage. There has been industrial action in Waterford. Some 98% of nurses in Tipperary voted for industrial action yesterday. This is not about pay, it is about the risk to patients and staff within the hospital. Nurses are still working one day per month for free. This was brought in under emergency terms in the period of the crash but that is still going on and highly resented by nursing staff. I do not believe winter initiatives have worked in the past. They have been too little too late and it will be a winter of discontent unless we hear back from the Minister on this public service agreement soon.