Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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131. To ask the Minister for Health the reason nursing numbers have decreased more significantly than other categories of staff in the public hospital sector over the past six years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21188/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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There was a requirement to reduce public service numbers and maximise savings in the public service from the time of the downturn in the economy. The HSE introduced an embargo on recruitment in 2007, and this was followed by the moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public sector in 2008. Overall, numbers employed fell by 11,000 between April 2009 and April 2015, while nursing numbers fell by over 3,500 in the same period. Nursing staff account for approximately one third of the workforce, it is the biggest staff category, and consequently has experienced a greater reduction in number terms than other categories.

Although there was a significant reduction in the number of nurses and midwives up to the end of 2013, the position is now improving. Between the end of 2013 and the end of 2014 nursing and midwifery numbers increased by 365. The recruitment rate has accelerated, and an extra 493 nurses and midwives have been taken on between December 2014 and March 2015.