Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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61. To ask the Minister for Health the number of nurses employed throughout the public health sector in each of the past ten years to date; the extent to which he expects to be in a position to augment the numbers in line with demographic requirements in the course of the next 12 months, with particular reference to the need to identify particularly sensitive areas, such as overcrowding at accident and emergency departments and other areas within the hospital service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42886/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As stated in the HSE’s National Service plan, the staff of the health services continue to be its most valuable resource. There are almost 120,000 personnel involved in the delivery of public health care, of which over 34% are nurses.

Details for nurse staffing over the last 10 years are set out in the following table:

Nurse Employment Dec 2005 to October 2015

Note¹: All figures are expressed as whole-time equivalents

The decade covered by this question spans a period of extensive health sector reform, including the creation of seven Hospital Groups.

Reducing overcrowding in Emergency Departments is a key priority for Government. I convened the Emergency Department (ED) Taskforce last year and the resulting ED Taskforce Action Plan published in April contains a range of time defined actions that are being implemented to alleviate overcrowding in EDs.

Recruitment of additional nurses and consultants is also a priority for the HSE. Recruitment campaigns are underway in Ireland and abroad. The HSE Census returns for the end of October 2015 show that we have over 750 more nurses employed in the public health services than a year ago - 35,163 whole time equivalent's compared with 34,404 in October 2014. As part of the recruitment campaign the HSE is offering 2015 graduates permanent posts. The Nursing Degree Programme is designed to provide a sufficient number of graduating nurses each year, 1,570, to meet future needs.

With regard to workforce planning, Action 46 of Future Health (DoH, 2012) provides for the Department to work with the HSE to implement an effective approach to workforce planning and development with the objectives of: recruiting and retaining the right mix of staff; training and upskilling the workforce; providing for professional and career development; and creating supportive and healthy workplaces. My Department has also committed to developing a National Integrated Strategic Framework for health workforce planning, in collaboration with other Government Departments and agencies. The main objectives of this framework will be the recruitment and retention of the right mix of staff, provision of career and professional development opportunities and the creation of supportive and healthy workplaces. A cross-sectoral working group is in the process of being established and will begin its work early next year. It is expected that an implementation plan will be delivered before the end of 2016.