Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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142. To ask the Minister for Health if flexible working hours will be introduced for nurses of young children to facilitate bringing more nurses back into the system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38458/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on the specific issue raised. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

The HSE is focused on recruiting the levels of frontline staff necessary to ensure that we have safe service provision. It is now in a position to offer a wide range of career opportunities for nurses and midwives. We have about 500 more nurses than a year ago. There are many initiatives currently underway to improve nursing staff levels throughout the country. These include the retention of 2015 degree programme graduates, offering full time permanent contracts, and a national and international recruitment campaign. In addition the conversion of agency usage to permanent staffing in line with agreed processes is being pursued. To date 400 nurses have applied for positions following the HSE’s recruitment campaign in Britain. 112 have accepted posts and further interviews are scheduled.