Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. This motion is reasonable and one that I wish to support.

Sometimes, I feel sorry for a Minister coming to the House to take a motion like this, given that the problems that we are discussing have been endemic in the health system as far back as I remember. On Sunday, I listened to Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha, the general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO. She was speaking about the shortage of nurses in accident and emergency departments, and as I listened to her, I thought back. The first time I became aware of a problem with staffing – I am referring to the medics at the coalface – in the health system was when I was ten years old and stuck in a bed in the middle of the long ward on the second floor of what was then Galway Regional Hospital because the hospital was overcrowded. It is a long time since I was ten years old, but nothing has changed, so the Minister of State is not responsible. However, he has the opportunity to make changes, which is what we are discussing. I also thought back to my cousin, Ms Kathleen Craughwell, a president of what was the Irish Nurses Organisation, INO, some years ago. I remembered speaking to her about shortages in nursing and nursing care. My wife is a nurse. She worked in the accident and emergency department in Galway, where the staff were always run off their feet.

The nursing profession has never managed to retain in the Irish system the excellent people we have trained and educated. As Senator McDowell stated, we train them to the highest level and make them attractive to health services all over the world. It is great for people to go away, build up the requisite level of experience and bring that back to this country. The problem is that the system is under such strain that none of these excellent people wants to return. They want to stay in health services where they are not constantly under pressure and doing the job of more than one person.

If there is the correct staffing, with qualified nurses supporting consultants in neurology, outpatient time can be reduced by 40%. Medication changes are required in neurology. A member of my family suffers epilepsy and a change of medication is a serious matter, given some of the side effects and changes involved in the transition periods between one drug and another. From that point of view, we need experts – nurses – on whom we can call.

I once spent four months in Tallaght University Hospital. I saw my consultant twice per week – he was an excellent and wonderful man – but I saw my nurses several times every day. They were the people who were the consultant's eyes and ears and could tell him what was happening. We undervalue nurses.

There is a recommendation of 20 nurses in this specialism in Cork University Hospital but a shortfall of 16. There is a shortage of 17 at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin and 17 at Tallaght. These organisations are under severe pressure. I invite the Minister of State to visit the neurological outpatient clinic at Tallaght hospital to see how under pressure its nurses are. There are so few of them. The Minister of State knows how an outpatient clinic works – the consultant comes in and everything has to be ready to move because the consultant’s time is limited. From this point of view, having the necessary staff is important.

Other Senators will call on the Minister of State for additional resources for accident and emergency services, urology and so on, but we must step back and ask ourselves how we have not brought matters to a better conclusion in the 50 plus years I have referenced.

People have been speaking to me about various issues that I have raised in the House, search and rescue services being one. The Minister of State and I debated that issue as a Commencement matter a couple of days ago. Another is the Commission on the Defence Forces, with people telling me that we cannot spend money on defence because we need it for hospitals and education. Finland, an economy much the size of ours, has an excellent education system, an excellent military and an excellent health system. Something is wrong somewhere and we are going to have to step back and see what it is. The people who represent voluntary organisations are doing a fantastic job, but they need support. We need to step back and see how we can fix matters for them, because the current situation is terrible.

I commend my colleagues, Senators Boyhan and McDowell, on the leadership they have given on this matter. I thank the party spokespersons who have contributed for their commitment to an Independent Group motion. I believe that the Minister of State will do the best he can.