Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Hoey and the Labour Party team for putting down this motion. Apologies, I was not here earlier. There is certainly no disrespect intended. It is safe to say the Fine Gael team on the Joint Committee on Health are active in terms of turning up, as are others as well.

We had a good discussion on this important topic with the unions at the recent meeting of the Joint Committee on Health. The figures were stark. Indeed, the figures are worse than that because they are under-reported in relation to the level of assaults. That is the worrying aspect.

An interesting point raised in the debate was on how to encourage people to report incidents of assault, whether it be physical or verbal assault. There was a concern that people felt there was no point because if they do so, they do not get anywhere. That is worrying because assault of any nature is wrong.

There was an understanding that people get frustrated. We know there are waiting lists and people wait in certain instances for too long in hospitals. Whatever the reason for the delays, the frustration and the stress, nobody has the right to take that out on staff of any kind. People can express annoyance, but to assault staff for any reason is wrong and they should be called out on that. There is no excuse.

The testimony we heard at the committee would not encourage people to go into that profession, which we need. We need people across all sectors. We need people in all our caring professions. Certainly, we need to root out this problem. The issue of security staff was raised in relation to visibility of staff in emergency department, in that they would be seen and would be able to intervene in those cases as well.

Another issue raised was following up on the reports that came in. We were advised that the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, has a role but is not following up as it does not have the resources to do so. This is an issue for outside of the Department but it is something the Government needs to look at. The HSA must take the same approach to the health workplace as it does to other workplaces but it is not doing that. It tells us it requires additional funding for a separate division to deal with the health service. If it does, it is important it gets that because, as I said, there is a vulnerable and visible cohort which deals with the public at all times and it is right and proper that the HSA be resourced to protect those staff and follow-up on complaints. That, in itself, will encourage the proper reporting of assaults and, I would hope, would spur all into increased action.

One of the cases mentioned related to midwives. I expressed disbelief at how it was possible for people to attack midwives. Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha put on the record that it can be partners or visitors and that the Covid restrictions on visitors and partner attendance, which, as quite rightly pointed out, were not the fault of the midwives who were following the policy these Houses and the Government laid down, were a real issue and a pressure point.Unfortunately, the midwife was the visible face of that policy, albeit not the author of it. Again, irrespective of that, there is no excuse for verbal or physical assaults on a midwife or any front-line staff member.

We know that in other areas like the disability sector, staff are dealing with some serious issues. In some cases, patients are physically strong individuals who can sometimes strike out unintentionally. It is something that happens on occasion and it is a severe risk hazard for individuals. We must be conscious of that as well and ensure there are proper staffing levels and appropriate staff to patient ratios in the disability sector.

All in all, more needs to be done. While it is clear that the Government has increased the budgets over the last number of years, there is still a demand for additional staff. The HSE tells us that recruitment is difficult. Indeed, I attended a meeting today about community care in my own area, where I heard that there are 13 empty beds in Áras Mhic Dara in An Ceathrú Rua because of a lack of staff. The HSE cannot get staff. It is trying to recruit internationally but it cannot get staff. Staffing is a major problem across all sectors of the health service. We have to broaden the reach and widen the search for qualified staff. Indeed, it is a worldwide problem. We also have to look at the capacity in our universities and training institutions to ensure that we have sufficient staff here. We must encourage more people to stay in this country and those who are abroad to return home, if they can.