Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will leave the there. I also wanted to raise the statement issued by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, earlier to the effect that the nurses and midwives will be balloted on all-out strike action, commencing with a 24-hour all-out strike and building up over time. The ballot will be held over the next few weeks. At issue here are understaffing in the health service and the failure of recruitment and retention efforts. The decision to ballot followed a rejection by 94% of the INMO's membership of the recent Government proposal on pay.There are 2,600 fewer nurses in our health services. They feel as though they have been forced down this path. I hope the Government will listen and that the pay commission will step in as soon as possible to prevent this from happening to our patients and our nurses who are trying to run this chaotic service.

I also wish to raise the report by the National Women's Council of Ireland, Out of Silence, which was published today. The report represents research and reflection on women's health from their own perspectives and in their own words. It is quite lengthy. It features the astounding information that child suicide among girls in Ireland is the highest in Europe. I knew the level was high, but I did not realise it was the highest. After everyone has read and considered the report, we should, as Senator Freeman said, include it on the agenda of the Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care once that has been made permanent.