Adjournment Debate

Community Employment Schemes Eligibility

Deputy Brendan Griffin

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this topic to be raised. I had hoped the new Minister for Social Protection would be present to hear this, but I am sure the Minister of State will pass on to him the details of this issue, which is important.

There is a particular problem with community employment, CE, in that the eligibility criteria allowing people to participate in these schemes are far too restrictive. That could easily be addressed, and it is an issue the new Minister must prioritise because it is tangible and would have a positive impact on the lives of people throughout the country. I refer to people who currently cannot get on CE schemes, those who must move off them even though there is a huge benefit for them in terms of preparing for employment, and those who may not have progression potential or opportunity depending on the circumstances. We must also take into account the very positive impact that results from CE. That is often overlooked by officials in the Department.

I do not believe the societal impact and the positive spin-off in communities are recognised fully by officials when it comes to CE. In areas in Kerry, for example, where often there are no other employment options, CE workers are doing wonderful work in the community, including working in health care, assisting with child care, working with young people and disadvantaged people, working on the Tidy Towns and so on. People are doing wonderful work with sporting communities and voluntary organisations that otherwise would not be done.

Recently, the five Kerry Deputies met representatives of Kerry CE schemes in Killorglin. It is not often that five Deputies would show up to a meeting on a Friday night, but it highlights the importance of this issue and how much we value the work of CE in the community. Proposals were put to the Deputies to pursue with the Department, and none of the requests were outlandish. They were reasonable and doable. I would be very grateful if the Minister of State were to bring back the proposals I will now outline. The first one is to change the starting point of 2000 to a new starting point of 2015. That would make far more people eligible for a CE scheme, because anyone who has been on a CE scheme in the intervening period has a reduced opportunity to participate in a scheme in the future. That is easily done, and I ask the Minister of State to consider that.

Also, with regard to referrals to CE schemes, there is a change in the way progression rates are being measured, and this is not responsive to the needs of communities throughout the country. The Minister must examine that and change the way the success or otherwise of a scheme is measured. The current system in place is too black and white and not responsive to the needs of the participants or the groups those people are working with.

Reducing the minimum qualifying age to 21 is something that does not require much explanation, but it would be a sensible measure. With regard to changing the eligibility requirement from 12 months' unemployment to six months, some people have suggested reducing it to three months or less. Why should people have to wait 12 months twiddling their thumbs before they can get on a CE scheme? That type of red tape is making life very difficult for certain individuals. It could be examined with a view to allowing spousal swops, in that one partner, depending on the circumstances, could participate in a CE scheme in lieu of the other. We should provide additional financial rewards for lone parents, because there are not enough incentives to participate in CE schemes.

The final two proposals are to change the minimum time on CE schemes to two years in real terms, and to allow people over the age of 62 to participate in schemes. Those people have very little employment opportunity, yet they are not allowed to participate in CE schemes. Tweaking is all that is required. We are not asking for the world, but the needs to be a response from the Department.

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection (Deputy Finian McGrath)

I thank Deputy Brendan Griffin for raising this important issue on easing eligibility for qualification on the community employment scheme. It is important that we have these debates. Regarding the broader issue, the Department of Social Protection will spend more than €1 billion in 2016 on work, training and education places in support of jobseekers. Expenditure, and the number of schemes and participants, has increased significantly in recent years in a response to the high levels of unemployment, which peaked at 15%. The number of places available on work programmes, including CE schemes, has grown from 25,000 in 2010 to just over 39,000 in 2016. That is a 56% increase. Schemes such as CE play a significant role in helping jobseekers maintain important work skills. Erosion of confidence and work skills, including soft skills related to teamwork, communication, planning and so on, is a significant issue over long periods of unemployment. However, there has been a significant and welcome reduction in unemployment levels.

CE is an employment programme with the aim of helping the long-term unemployed to re-enter the workforce by breaking their cycle of unemployment through a return to a regular work routine. CE also provides training and development to participants. The current eligibility criteria for the programme have been expanded over the years. The criteria have been set to specifically target certain groups for the programme. The basic eligibility requirement is that a person must be currently in receipt of a CE-qualifying payment such as jobseeker's allowance from the Department of Social Protection for a minimum period of 12 months. Recent changes to the eligibility criteria for CE include a reduction in the entry age for CE participants working directly with service users in the child care and social and health care sectors to 21 years of age. The standard minimum entry age for CE is 25 years of age. The eligibility criteria for participants aged 62 and over have been eased in terms of the maximum duration they can remain on the programme, subject to certain conditions. Customers who are not eligible for the CE programme may be eligible for other interventions from the Department of Social Protection. The eligibility criteria for CE are kept under review to ensure it remains fit for purpose and there is maximum utilisation of CE places. I will bring Deputy Griffin's proposals to the Minister. I accept that we must be responsive to the needs of the community. I also agree with the strong points he made regarding lone parents.

Refugee Resettlement Programme

Deputy Mick Wallace

More than 8,000 people have been moved from the Idomeni camp, and among them are hundreds of unaccompanied children. If the European Union countries, including Ireland, had fulfilled their obligations in the past year, most of those people would not be going into another camp but would be facing a better future. Sadly, the programme of the EU is about detention and deportation, when it should be about solidarity and service provision.

Last summer, EU member states promised to relocate 160,000 people from Greece and Italy.

Just over 6,200 of those 160,000 people have been relocated. The European Union's failure to address the refugee problem in a positive way beggars belief. There is a statistic from the International Organization for Migration indicating that ten people per day have died trying to cross the Mediterranean since 2014. That means for every 23 people relocated in Europe, ten are dying at sea. That does not even include those who died on the mainland, suffocating in the back of trucks or getting crushed to death trying to get a lift on or under a truck in Calais or Dunkirk.

It beggars belief how human beings can treat other human beings. These people did not choose to be refugees and they did not want to leave their homes, which were bombed. Much of this started with the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003; we facilitated that by allowing the Americans to use Shannon Airport. We facilitated it at EU level by supporting the policy of the Americans, French and British military endeavours. We are not innocent. How much of an objection did we raise to the EU deal with Greece and Turkey? It was probably very small. That deal is a nonsense. Kurds are being forced back to Turkey from Greece and Turks will shoot them on site. Turkey is not a safe place for refugees and we should challenge that deal.

Sadly, we need to seriously rethink our lack of a neutral stance in how the world operates. We have no problem shaking hands with presidents, kings and other leaders who kill thousands of people but who have no problem smiling for the cameras. We have no problem doing business with such people. We can pretend that we care about refugees but we have helped to bomb them out of their homes. Is it possible we can do a little more? Could we show that we really care about them? A couple of weeks ago I pleaded with the Minister to send a team to Calais and Dunkirk to assess unaccompanied minors. Deputy Clare Daly and I met representatives of the Red Cross last week and it is assessing 950 homes of people who have offered to take in refugees. It is a no-brainer and it would be a positive step to take. We might say we will only take people outside Europe or Syria but it does not matter who they are. They could be Syrians, Kurds, Iraqis, Sudanese or Yemeni. We need to help these people. The Irish have gone all over the planet and we got help everywhere but now we do not want to help these people. Europe may want to pretend everything is going to be okay and the problem will go away, but it will not go away. More refugees will come this year than came last year, and more people are drowning in the Mediterranean in 2016 than did in 2015.

There are many complications involved in bringing people to this country and I am not saying this is black and white. We are not making a good effort but we could. That would make such a difference. It would bring a bit of credibility to us as a nation if we played a much stronger role. Ireland and European countries in general are not playing a strong role right now.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (Deputy David Stanton)

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue this evening. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, who cannot be here tonight. This area overlaps with the responsibilities I have with respect to issues of refugees and immigration.

The Deputy is correct in that Europe is facing its greatest migration and refugee crisis since the Second World War. There is no doubt about it. Conflicts and instability, including in some states in Africa and the Middle East, have led to more than 60 million displaced persons globally. Against the backdrop of this humanitarian crisis, record numbers have sought to reach the European Union, often, as the Deputy noted, undertaking desperate and perilous journeys across the Mediterranean and Aegean seas at the mercy of ruthless and exploitative people smugglers. The European Union has collectively taken concrete steps to address the crisis and measures have been adopted in support of Italy and Greece, which jointly received more than 1 million migrants and asylum seekers last year alone.

On 10 September 2015, recognising that we do not face the same migratory pressures as many other member states, the Government voluntarily agreed to establish the Irish refugee protection programme and to accept up to 4,000 persons in total under the European Union's resettlement and relocation programmes. Under this programme, Ireland is prepared, willing and ready to receive people. The mechanism by which the balance of the 4,000 people is to be admitted will be determined based on future developments at EU level. It is expected these numbers will be augmented further by family reunifications.

The figure of 4,000 people includes approximately 2,600 asylum seekers to be admitted from Italy and Greece under the EU relocation programme and 520 refugees, which the Government has committed to taking in by the end of 2016 under Ireland's refugee resettlement programme led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR. Ireland is well advanced in fulfilling its commitments on resettlement, with 263 refugees admitted to date from Lebanon and the balance expected to arrive by the end of September, also from Lebanon.

The pace of the relocation programme across the European Union has been slower than we would have wished. If greater numbers are made available by the Greek authorities, we will be in a position to process greater numbers in line with our commitments. The Tánaiste and her Department have already provided four experts to support the implementation of the programme, with two in Italy and two in Greece. They are open to providing further assistance upon request. We have also nominated liaison officers to both Italy and Greece to support our identification of relocation candidates.

A Syrian family of ten has been relocated from Greece to Ireland and granted protection. Very shortly, another group of 31 Syrians will arrive in the State. A further 40 people are provisionally scheduled to arrive the following month, with a regular intake of between 40 and 60 persons arriving every eight weeks by agreement with the Greek authorities. Ireland and other member states are working with the Italian authorities to try to overcome the impasse regarding proper security clearance procedures in line with the commitments already endorsed by this House.

To break the dangerous business model of people smugglers and remove the incentive to seek irregular routes into the EU, the EU-Turkey statement agreed by the Heads of State or Government on 18 March outlined a number of clear action points for implementation. To support the implementation of this agreement, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality has nominated six international case work experts to the European Asylum Support Office to assist the Greek asylum service in the implementation of the admissibility procedure and performance of vulnerability checks. In addition, Ireland has also offered the services of two members of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal to support the establishment of appeals committees.

The Deputy also referred to the closing of the refugee camp in Greece. It is my understanding that no official camp exists in Idomeni. Exploitative people smugglers have encouraged desperate asylum seekers to congregate on the Greek border with Macedonia by spreading misinformation to suggest the border crossing will soon re-open and allow them continue their journey to destination countries, including Germany and Sweden. The Deputy pointed out that the conditions where many vulnerable women and children have gathered are unsanitary and unsafe. I understand from Greek authorities that their intention is to move asylum seekers to reception centres, where their needs, including food and medical care, may be adequately met.

The crisis is likely to stay high on the agenda for the foreseeable future, unfortunately. Our naval vessel, the LE Róisín, is also assisting the Italian navy in the operation of humanitarian rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea. The Deputy knows that other ships have also operated in the area. In addition to our existing commitments to provide protection to asylum seekers and refugees who reach our shores, Ireland is also working with EU partners to develop legal pathways for migration into Europe and to engage constructively with countries of origin and transit. I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter.

Cancer Incidence

Deputy Sean Sherlock

With a few short words, I express the concerns of the people of Cobh, who are currently reading a recent study by the National Cancer Registry of Ireland indicating that the rates of prostate cancer there are 71% higher than the national average, with female breast cancer incidence 38% above the norm.

The people of Cobh are very concerned. While he is in the House, I congratulate my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton, on his new position. I know he has spoken on this issue and expressed concern about it in the past.

I raise this issue because when the National Cancer Registry was asked for a reason that the rates are higher in Cobh, it stated that it could be down to the issue of social deprivation. I do not believe that is a proper answer when asked a question of that nature. We know that Cobh is a town with a history of heavy industry, that there is a remediation programme going on at the moment in an area in which heavy industry is no longer located and that the Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring the pharmaceutical or pharmachem industries in the lower harbour areas. However, we do not have actual clean air monitoring at specific reference points throughout the Cobh area and there is no live reporting to the public.

It could be beneficial if a baseline study were instigated for Cobh and a full investigation could be carried out. This could be done without necessarily putting an extra charge on the Exchequer because there is a number of stakeholders, such as GPs and UCC, in particular, which have addressed the strategic policy committee of Cork County Council, that is, the environment committee. The department of chemistry and the environmental research unit have stated that they would be happy to conduct studies in this area. It is an issue that affects every family in Cobh. Professor Colin Bradley, a professor of general practice, stated recently: "I've seen more cancers in surprisingly young people than I would in previous practices". He is referring specifically to Cobh. I believe it is an issue that is worthy of further investigation. I do not accept the social deprivation answer that has been given by the National Cancer Registry. We laud the work it does but we need some empirical evidence. It would appear that there is an intergenerational increase in the rate of cancer, not only prostate and female breast cancer, but also in other areas.

I am asking the Minister at least to consider facilitating some stakeholder engagement on this issue. I am not necessarily looking for a cheque for a baseline study but if we can get a favourable response from the Minister to the idea of putting together some sort of stakeholder group involving UCC, which has stated that it would be willing at least to partake in further studies on this issue, then we could seek to deliver something for the people in Cobh, who are gravely concerned about the matter. I am asking the Minister to have an open mind. I will leave him with one metric. If one looks at the 1994 to 2007 figures, the urban area of Cobh had a 37% higher incidence than other parts of the country. That would mean that within that timeframe, someone in Cobh was diagnosed with cancer every 11 days. I thank the Acting Chairman and hope I will receive a favourable reply.

Minister for Health (Deputy Simon Harris)

I thank Deputy Sherlock for raising this issue and I welcome the opportunity to clarify the position on the incidence of cancer in the Cobh area in County Cork. As the Deputy asked, I will keep an open mind but I will now present him with the information I have been presented with. I want to reassure the Deputy and the people of Cobh that there is no newly published report setting out higher rates of cancer in the Cork area. The National Cancer Registry is the statutory agency with responsibility for the collection and analysis of data relating to the number of cancer cases. Analysis conducted by the cancer registry for the period 1994 to 2007 indicates that Cobh urban had a higher cancer incidence rate than the national rate and the Cork County rate. However, the data also indicated that Cobh rural had a lower incidence rate than the national rate over those years. While there is a number of possible reasons for these differences, it is important to acknowledge that cancer incidence is reported as average figures and that there will always be local variations above and below the average. This is particularly true when looking at a small population area, such as Cobh, relative to the national population.

In 2008, the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government commissioned an independent report on the site conditions at Haulbowline. The assessment involved analysis of all likely contaminants to determine whether there was a threat to human health or the environment. The report concluded that: "Based on the monitoring works completed it is concluded that there are no identified risks to the residential inhabitants of Cork Harbour associated with the presence of waste materials at the East Tip on Haulbowline Island." In light of the conclusions of the 2008 report, it was decided not to conduct a baseline health survey for the Cork Harbour region at that time.

There is a number of reasons variations may exist in cancer rates. The primary factor is age. While it is unfortunate that some people are diagnosed with cancer earlier in life, cancer is predominantly a disease of ageing. Lifestyle issues such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption, lack of physical exercise, unhealthy diet and excess body weight are risk factors. It is internationally accepted that up to one third of cancers can be prevented by improving these modifiable risk factors. My Department is currently working on a new national cancer strategy for the next decade. This will build on the progress made through the implementation of the two previous strategies. Areas of focus are likely to include prevention, early diagnosis, further improvements in treatment, rare cancers, survivorship and high quality, patient-centred care. I intend to publish this new strategy in the coming months.

I am looking forward to the implementation of the new strategy and to making a further significant improvement in our efforts to prevent cancer and to deal effectively with it when it does occur but on the basis of the issues Deputy Sherlock has raised, I will ask that my Department reflect on the points he has made and that it revert back to me. Any future decision in respect of a baseline health survey would have to be taken in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, which is set to be renamed.

Hospital Staff Recruitment

Deputy Fergus O'Dowd

I welcome the Minister to the House and invite him to visit Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, County Louth, at the first available opportunity. It is a very important major regional hospital in which there are serious industrial issues at the moment. I visited it this morning and the staff are extremely busy and extremely committed but the hospital is short 104 nurses who cannot be recruited at the moment and that is having a serious impact-----

Acting Chairman (Deputy John Lahart)

Is Deputy O'Dowd sharing time?

Deputy Fergus O'Dowd

I do not know.

Gabh mo leithscéal.

Deputy Fergus O'Dowd

On a point of order, I was given notice that I was being picked. It is up to the Chair to give me the time. I am sorry if this is something-----

Can I just start again then?

Acting Chairman (Deputy John Lahart)

Yes.

Deputy Fergus O'Dowd

I welcome the Minister. This is a serious issue. We are looking for 104 nurses but cannot recruit them. It is not just a national issue; it is an international and European issue. We cannot recruit enough nurses. I welcome the Minister's interest in this. I have discussed it with him already and I believe there may be a resolution to it, which I welcome. I do not want a winter of discontent. It is very important that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is fully and properly staffed. We need to pay nurses more. That is the key.

They need better career prospects and the public also deserves better.

Deputy Declan Breathnach

The fact that four of the five Louth Deputies have requested this Adjournment debate is testament to the ongoing issues associated with the major deficits in the delivery of acute hospital services to the people of the north east. Deputy O'Dowd referred to the work to rule which is about the major deficit of 104 whole-time nursing posts in the hospital. It has one of the highest trolley numbers in the country. This is a hospital that is expected to deliver safe services with a complement of what the IMO has said is three staff to a ward when there should be five staff in those wards. Not alone is such a service putting patients at risk, it is also an additional stress on the overworked existing staff. The fact that 52 of the 104 positions are for permanent vacancies shows this is not just a problem for Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital but applies equally to the many other health centres, units and hospitals throughout the country. Recruitment problems of this magnitude cause problems with patient care. Too many staff are being asked to work in excess of contracted hours which also puts patients at risk. There appears to be a dichotomy in the approach. On the one hand we have an embargo on staff and on the other hand we are talking about recruitment. The Minister for Health needs to take this issue on and give a proper service to the community I represent.

Deputy Gerry Adams

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Sláinte fosta agus go n-éirí an t-ádh leis ina phost nua. I extend solidarity to the staff at Our Lady of Lourdes and especially to the nurses and midwives who do a remarkable job in very difficult circumstances. They also are on a work to rule at this time. Many of our hospitals and nurses are at breaking point. In the past 48 hours there were 537 patients on trolleys, 52 of whom were in Our Lady of Lourdes. I know of one woman who has been on a trolley since 3 o'clock yesterday. This is a direct result of the Government's health policy. The chaos in our hospital system will not be resolved by either Fine Gael's or Fianna Fáil's two-tier approach to health or by the recruitment embargo. There is no point in the Minister denying a recruitment embargo when recruitment is conditional upon the hospital having the resources and these are being withheld. I ask the Minister to instruct the HSE to lift the embargo and to resource the employment of staff needed to fulfil outstanding vacancies.

Deputy Imelda Munster

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is at breaking point. The nurses and the front-line staff are also at breaking point. Every single ward and department is short-staffed every day. Consider the nurses in their continued dedication and their caring professionalism every single day despite the stressful and Third World conditions which they endure daily. It is not just affecting Our Lady of Lourdes. Nurses provide the same level of caring professionalism right throughout our public health service under the most stressful conditions. It is something this Government ought to be ashamed of and the questions must be asked.

What type of Government allows this chaos to continue for so long in our public health service? What type of Government consistently fails to see the urgency of these issues or to resolve them? There are 104 whole-time equivalent posts still to be filled. Is this a Government hell-bent on running down our public health service? If that is not the case, what plan has the new Minister for the public health service? What is his new, innovative recruitment drive campaign for nurses? Perhaps the Minister will tell the House what that plan is and explain to Deputies what is new about it and what is going to be different from the past five years of this Government. Perhaps, given the urgency of the situation, the Minister will also clarify if there is a timeframe attached to the recruitment. The Minister should know that the public is 100% behind our nurses. The public is also 100% behind our public health service and it is high time the Minister and the Government supported the nurses and the public health service with resources, funding and staff.

Deputy Simon Harris

I thank Deputies O'Dowd, Breathnach, Adams and Munster for raising this issue and for allowing me to address the House on the matter. In direct response to Deputy Munster's question, the first thing I am going to do is stop playing party politics with the health service, and that is why I received Cabinet approval today to move ahead with the motion - which I understand Deputy Munster's own party and indeed every party in this House feels very strongly about - to set up a cross-party committee to meet within six months to look at a single vision for a single tier public health service and how we are going to fund that. I look forward to constructive ideas on that measure.

I regret that a decision was made to undertake industrial action in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda following the breakdown of talks at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, last Friday on resolution of the staffing difficulties at the hospital. I believe that the interests of patients are always best served through negotiation and by avoiding industrial action. Industrial action, even if it is limited to non-core duties, is not in the best interests of patient care and cannot resolve the staffing issues. Nonetheless, I take the point made by Deputy Munster about caring professionalism and I am sure it is not a decision any nurse takes lightly. I am pleased, therefore, that the INMO and the HSE have accepted an invitation from the WRC to attend a meeting tomorrow to discuss the issues. I welcome this progress and this recommencement of talks. I am satisfied that the issues raised by the INMO can be best addressed through engagement at the WRC.

Meanwhile, the hospital is implementing a contingency plan to minimise, in so far as is possible, the impact of the industrial action on patient care. The emergency departments will remain open over the course of the industrial action in an effort to continue to meet patients’ emergency medical needs. Unfortunately, the contingency plan included cancelling all planned, non-urgent elective procedures today other than cancer related care. Patients whose appointments are affected were contacted directly by the hospital and a new date will be re-scheduled as soon as possible.

I want to correct the impression that there is a recruitment embargo at present. This is not the case and there is no blanket embargo on recruitment. While there has to be compliance with national pay structures and management of employment numbers within budget in the HSE, there is scope for hospitals to continue to recruit, particularly across key departments such as intensive care units, theatre and emergency departments.

Our Lady of Lourdes recognises the need for ongoing recruitment drives due to the movement of staff across the HSE and to other health care services in Ireland and abroad. To date, 34 nurses and midwives have been recruited to the hospital this year and 21 staff nurses are in the process of being recruited. At present there are two campaigns of particular relevance: a Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland hospital group competition and an initiative to offer all nursing graduates of 2016 the opportunity for permanent nursing posts.

The HSE has continually increased staffing levels since the beginning of 2015. By the end of March 2016 overall health service employee numbers had increased by 5,856 whole-time equivalents, the vast majority in front-line positions. During that 15-month period from January 2015, the numbers employed in acute hospitals increased by 3,500 whole-time equivalents, with nursing numbers up by more than 1,700 whole-time equivalents during the same timeframe.

I assure Deputies that the Government is fully aware of the difficulties and challenges. I am due to meet the INMO tomorrow to discuss nursing issues in general and I look forward to engaging constructively with it and to continuing the very constructive role it plays in co-chairing the emergency department task force as we all work together as stakeholders to try to address the issues facing our emergency departments and hospital staff, including nurses and midwives, in delivering care.

It is my intention to continue to grow the health budget as the economy improves and to obtain the resources necessary to improve working conditions for front-line staff to enable us to deliver the level of service that we all want to provide to our patients. I wish to put the health service employee numbers on the record in this House. While it does not always fit the political narrative, the numbers are the numbers. I absolutely accept there is still some way to go to get back to the numbers of front-line staff working in our hospitals before the recession but it is important to note that the numbers have continued to increase since December 2013. At that time, there were 47,934 people working in the acute sector. In December 2014, that figure had increased to 49,742. By December 2015, it had increased to 52,539. In March 2016, that number stood at 53,253. With regard to nurses, including midwives, at the end of 2014 there were 34,211, which rose to 35,036 in March 2015 and to 35,918 in March 2016. Since December 2014, there has been an increase of 1,707 nurses, which is a 5% increase. Since March 2015, there has been an increase of 825, which is a 2.5% increase. There is significantly more to do but it is simply not correct to put the narrative out there that nursing numbers and front-line staff are declining when in fact the opposite is true. Deputy O'Dowd's invitation to visit Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is absolutely something I would like to take up and I look forward to visiting shortly.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 25 May 2016.

Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 24 May 2016