I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding health service recruitment freeze. On Wednesday, 21 November 2023, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 80(2), that division must be taken now.
Health Service Recruitment Freeze: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy David Cullinane on Tuesday, 21 November 2023:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes:
— that the Government's mismanagement of the health budget has led to a disastrous embargo on recruitment into frontline posts; and
— the memorandums sent by the Chief Executive Officer of the Health Service Executive (HSE), which directed a severe escalation in the recruitment embargo across the health service, and which noted that the embargo "will create difficulties" in the face of "an enormous increase in demand";
further notes that the disastrous decision of this Government to underfund the health service has:
— resulted in the loss of more than 7,000 essential posts from the HSE workforce;
— caused the removal of vital frontline vacant posts which were needed for the winter ahead;
— caused the withdrawal of job offers from prospective health service workers;
— sent a message to Irish workers abroad not to come home;
— sent a message to workers frustrated with the health service in Ireland to emigrate;
— sent a message to foreign health services to come and take our healthcare workers; and
— seriously impacted the ability of the health service to deliver safe, quality care and expand provision to meet rising demand across almost all services, including mental health, older people, home care, community services, and acute hospitals;
condemns this Government for throwing in the towel on health and causing significant reputational damage to the health service through their disastrous recruitment embargo, as a result of the underfunding of the health service; and calls on the Government to:
— immediately end the recruitment embargo on essential HSE posts;
— urgently bring forward revised estimates for 2023, to properly fund the health service to year end; and
— reverse its disastrous decision to deliberately underfund the health service in 2024.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"notes that:
— the Government has allocated €22.5 billion to the health budget for 2024;
— the Department of Health's additional allocation in Budget 2024 is nearly €2 billion;
— this includes an increase of €808 million in core current funding, €1,032 million in non-core current funding and an additional €120 million in capital funding;
— as of September 2023, there were 143,075 staff working in our health service, and this is an increase of 5,330 Whole-time Equivalent (WTE) year-to-date in 2023;
— the current Government has overseen and funded an unprecedented growth in health service recruitment, with a net growth of 23,263 (+19 per cent) staff since the beginning of 2020, and this includes:
— a net increase of 6,808 (+18 per cent) nurses and midwives;
— a net increase of 3,388 (+20per cent) health and social care professionals;
— a net increase of 866 (+27 per cent) consultants; and
— a net increase of 1,806 (+27 per cent) non-consultant hospital doctors;
— 2020, 2021 and 2022 achieved the three largest increases in the workforce since the foundation of the Health Service Executive (HSE), and this expansion has continued in 2023 with approximately 6,010 new posts funded;
— higher than planned recruitment activity has taken place across the HSE in 2023, with the HSE set to exceed its funded target (6,010 net new posts) by year end;
— recruitment is continuing for consultant appointments, graduate nurses and doctors in training, and exemptions also apply in disability in a list of specified front line and residential posts;
— where contracts have already issued and been accepted, these will be honoured; and
— the Government has allocated funding to ensure an additional net workforce growth of approximately 2,268 posts in 2024;
further notes that:
— Ireland has one of the highest ratios of nurses per 1,000 population in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), based on the register of actively practising nurses, and Ireland has 12.7 practising nurses per 1,000 whereas the OECD average is 9.2, and this means Ireland has the 5th highest number of practising nurses anywhere in the OECD; and
— since its introduction in March 2023, more than 1,000 consultants have already taken up the new public-only consultant contract, and this contract, which facilitates extended consultant presence on duty, results in reduced emergency admissions, more rapid and appropriate decision-making, shorter lengths of stay, better patient flow and improved outcomes for patients;
acknowledges that record recruitment into the health service is delivering real benefits to patients, such as:
— 2022 marked the first annual reduction in hospital waiting lists since 2015, and waiting lists are set to fall again in 2023, despite a huge increase in referrals onto waiting lists;
— the number of patients waiting over the Sláintecare targets (10-12 weeks) has fallen by circa 150,000, or 24 per cent, since Covid-19 Pandemic peaks;
— the significant increase in staffing across the health service has facilitated the delivery of many new services, including the Enhanced Community Care Programme and the Integrated Care Programme for Older Persons, which supports older people to live well in their own homes and communities without the need to access acute hospital settings;
— the large increase in our clinical workforce has enabled the rollout of many of our important national strategies, including cancer, maternity, trauma and many others; and
— the improved care being delivered by our expanded health workforce is resulting in improved health outcomes, including improved cancer survivorship and fewer deaths after strokes and heart attacks; and
further acknowledges that:
— if the level of growth in 2023, beyond funded levels of workforce growth, is allowed to continue uncontrolled, it would have significant financial implications; and
— the recruitment pause is part of a suite of control measures, including an instruction to reduce expenditure on agency staff and management consultants across the HSE and Section 38 organisations.".
- (Minister for Health)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 74; Níl, 59; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harris, Simon.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Berry, Cathal.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Naughten, Denis.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Ryan, Patricia.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Amendment declared carried.
Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 74; Níl, 58; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harris, Simon.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Berry, Cathal.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Naughten, Denis.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Ryan, Patricia.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Question declared carried.