Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Again, I thank the Senator. It is important to reiterate the Government's commitment to nursing and midwifery. Through the Government's record investment, our health service workforce has expanded exponentially since the beginning of 2020. There are 27,901 more staff in total, with the largest portion of this figure made up of nurses and midwives, amounting to 9,375. Despite this incredible increase, we continue to expand our nursing and midwifery workforce this year and next year, with an increase of 500 posts for this year to allow us to achieve the estimated baseline figures outlined by the safe staffing framework. The INMO has claimed the workforce ceiling is a recruitment pause by another name. This simply is not the case. As I have outlined, there is funding for a further 4,210 staff to be recruited this year. It is normal and correct that publicly funded organisations operate with appropriate control.