Ruairí Ó Murchú
Louth · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“It was hardly a shock to me and many others that he decided that the simplicity that was asked for by Sinn Féin last week, such that we would consider preparations for Irish unity, was not acceptable. Most people would see this as a possibility, even those who do not necessarily like the idea.”
“I welcome that. I have spoken previously to the Minister about the necessity of providing Mr. Delaney's report on the incident to Natasha and the wider family.”
“We will all be very interested to see what the new circular is. The Minister of State said it will be announced in September. A needs-based system is what we need. I would like to think the young boy I talked about would be able to avail of this. I will use him as an example. The correct assessments were carried out.”
“We just need to make sure that the circular is fit for purpose and that the young primary school child to whom I refer will be given the supports he requires. I will just finish reading from the communication to which I referred earlier.”
“We need to ensure that the engagement with Lebanon is ongoing. Are we happy with the interaction with the UN? There had been some issues relating to the coroner's court. Everyone needs to do everything that can be done to ensure truth and justice for the family of Private Seán Rooney.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for all the flexibility she allows in this Chamber, and hopefully that will continue as we speak. I welcome an awful lot of what Deputy Devlin said.”
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“John of God intellectual disability services and the Courts Service, following on from the meeting between the Department, the Courts Services and ourselves when we agreed to waive pre-legislative scrutiny, has been positive. I am not going to put this to a vote, but it is worthwhile that we air these particular issues.”
“Again, the big thing is that it is about engagement with all of the stakeholders such as the disability, healthcare and mental health services. It is about engaging properly with families and parents so they do not feel left out. It is absolutely about engaging with those people we are attempting to give support to. The big thing is that we ensure the review is comprehensive and deals with a number of these sets of circumstances. We must also address some of what is in the public domain to a degree, whether it relates to the banking sector, to families or to the issue I have brought forward. The interaction between St.”
“In addition, there must be real engagement with those who are wards of court at the moment or those who will fall under these parameters in the future. In some cases, we are talking about some of our most vulnerable people, such as those who need disability services, mental health services and whatever else. We get the idea that it is about ensuring that people are given the maximum support they need, while assuming as much capacity as possible from the point of view of allowing them to live their lives. This created difficulties in the beginning for some of the disability services that I spoke to. They were probably too protective in how they operated, and then they had to free up how they operate to some degree. Like us, they learned from their mistakes. I have seen some positives where previously I would have been worried.”
“The other piece of positivity that I spoke to previously is the fact that the entire Bill is being reviewed. Obviously, there was insufficient capacity to deal with all of the wards of court who needed to be discharged. We need to ensure we deal with discharging those wards of court within the next 18 months. We do not want to be back facing this circumstance again. The review is all important for a number of reasons. We know there are huge issues in relation to using banking services that have become more difficult. St. John of God is one of the groups that brought that particular issue up. Families have issues in relation to the engagement. We need to make absolutely sure that the Bill is focused on those who need the support.”
“John of God intellectual disability services and they have engaged with a number of officials from the Courts Service. They were highly impressed and really appreciative of the engagement. They have come up with some methods. An independent assessment has to be made on a ward of court who is to be discharged, obviously. St. John of God would like certain information, such as the mitigations and the support factors surrounding these people, to be in front of the court. It about making sure that all the information it knows is passed on. In fairness, there seems to be an improvement in relation to that. There were some very straight conversations around these supports. There will be continued engagement from here on in. That is all very positive.”
“The example I have used previously relates to an instance in which someone wanted to go shopping in Newry. Obviously, I am dealing with a disability service that operates in Dundalk. When a person wanted to go to Newry, the service would have had to go through their DMR. This seemed to create a huge level of difficulty. There was a fear that there may have been an element of being overprotective as the discharge process was ongoing. The big issue here, and the reason the Minister of State looked for pre-legislative scrutiny to be waived, is that a number of people will not be discharged in time for the change that was due to come into effect on 26 April and would therefore fall into legal limbo. None of us want that to happen. I am relatively pleased to say that I have spoken to representatives of St.”
“The Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, is hardly shocked to see this amendment in front of the House. It gives the Dáil an opportunity to deal with some of the issues. In explaining why I am making this proposal, I will start at the beginning. I was contacted by St. John of God intellectual disability services in relation to particular issues that it had at the time around wards of court. For legacy reasons, people who had some sort of inheritance or whatever were made wards of court. When they were going through the operation of being discharged, the disability service believed that these were people with a decent element of capacity and assumed that they would have been discharged altogether without the need for co-decision making or a decision-making representative. This issue relates to the decision-making representative, DMR.”
“(2) A review carried out under subsection (1) shall: (a) consider if the process of exiting wardship of court allows for maximum engagement with the ward; (b) include engagement with relevant stakeholders including, but not limited to: (i) families and/or representative organisations; (ii) health, mental health and disability service providers, so as to ensure that maximum capacity can be allowed for taking into account where existing daily supports are already enabling wards of court to make decisions; (c) consider allowing for the revisiting of decisions made as court wardship was exited, if capacity wasn’t sufficiently allowed for, and ensure that assisted decision making representation and co-decision making should be used only where necessary, and that decision making representation is used preferably for the period of important single decisions including, but not limited to major health and financial decisions.”.”.”
“I move amendment No. 9: In page 5, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 146 of Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 2. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 146: “146. (1) The Minister shall, in consultation with the Minister for Health cause a review of the functioning of this Act (other than Part 8) to be carried out before the 5th anniversary of the date of enactment of this Act.”
“We have all spoken about coach operators. We have spoken about those in agriculture. We have also spoken today about community nurses that are under pressure. This is not going to be enough to facilitate them doing the work they do. The same goes with home carers. None of it is good enough. Carbon tax is also about dissuasion and that does not matter if you have alternatives. The fact is the Government is taking away as it gives.”
“If we're talking about particular cohorts that are under pressure, they include those with disabilities, who had €1,400 taken off them from one budget to another, so these are the sort of things that need to be dealt with. Again, I do not think enough has been done. We do not know what is going to happen. Donald Trump may be negotiating with himself at present. He may intend to bring this to an end or he may intend to start some sort of invasion, and I cannot even imagine what other chaos that is going to bring. The Israelis are quite happy to continue bombing and causing destruction. Whether that is what they have done in Palestine or what they are doing at present in Lebanon or in the wider field of the Middle East, none of it is good. This Government had one job, and that was to look after the people in Ireland who are suffering.”
“I agree with Deputy John McGuinness, which is not the way I expected to start this speech. I agree with him that there has been a lack of flexibility and agility on the part of Government. I do not accept that enough has been done with regard to the cuts to diesel and petrol. I do not think it is sufficient for those out there who are suffering. As little as that was, it would have been better if this had been introduced three weeks, two weeks or one week ago but we could not and we were waiting or the Government was assessing and people already were under severe pressure because of the cost-of-living crisis that is affecting many.”
“At a recent meeting, members of Louth County Council heard of an expected rise of 25% in the cost of tar, which is obviously a key material for road surfacing. This will obviously lead to huge issues for the roadworks programme. We also hear of the possible impacts of additional costs relating to retrofitting and upgrades, which are absolutely necessary. What engagement has there been? Louth County Council has applied for extra funding to address the impact of recent flooding. It is looking for somewhere around €1.5 million, although that figure probably will not cut the mustard at this point in time. Donald Trump and genocidal Israel's illegal war are causing huge issues. Supports will be needed. I would like to think there is good engagement with local authorities.”
“I was contacted by a long-serving member of the Garda Reserve. He had a number of asks relating to the absence of formal recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Garda Reserve, which needs to be dealt, consideration of a long-serving medal for Reserve members and progress on enabling greater operational responsibility for experienced reservists. We need more gardaí but we should also deal with the issue of the reserve.”
“They are successful. It is about building relationships with kids and hopefully engaging with them from a point of view of ensuring that they can find that better road map themselves for their life. I also commend the gardaí who with me have met those on Barrack Street who are very worried about the ongoing destruction of property, anti-community action and open drug dealing. There is a Dublin Simon Community facility that probably has bad legacy issues. It is all about those powers that are needed. There is planning permission for 21 units there. Louth County Council would have to make some promises in relation to allocations, but a huge body of work needs to be done. From my discussions with Dublin Simon Community, it is hopefully up for it. It is between it, Louth County Council and An Garda. It is making sure that would happen.”
“I agree with Deputy Donnelly. There was a recent incident in Dundalk where an eight-year-old was stopped on an e-scooter. Gardaí have told me about the particular issues that they have that they are not sufficiently resourced to deal with this issue, which is causing danger, not only for those who engage in dangerous behaviour on e-scooters and scramblers but also for those whom they interact with. We need to see not only guidelines and legislation; we need to make sure that An Garda is given the powers that are required. It goes without saying that high-visibility garda operations can make a huge difference in preventing crime. I commend the community gardaí whom I have interacted with, particularly in Dundalk. The late night leagues with the youth diversion programmes have been running on a Thursday night for the past number of weeks.”
“It is an absolute necessity for people, but at the minute they are paying a minimum monthly expense of €80 per month, whereas if they were up the road in Newry this would not be the case. It needs to be looked at and delivered upon.”
“Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda ranks 16th out of the 25 hospitals providing chemotherapy with 17% of people not getting chemotherapy within the target timeframe of 15 working days. As Deputy Byrne said, 67 people in Drogheda faced serious delays for chemotherapy in 2025. That is not good enough whatsoever. We know that there are issues with resources, outdated rosters and outdated equipment. They just need to be dealt with. In the small amount of time I have left, I want to bring up an issue that a constituent has brought to me. It relates to stomas. I appeal once again for people with stomas to be included in the long-term illness scheme. A person wears an ostomy bag for a number of reasons, one of which is obviously cancer.”
“Many people will have harrowing stories to tell today that are personal and connected to them. The unfortunate fact is that cancer has a huge footprint. We have often spoken about people coming to us to say that the system is brilliant once you get into it but we are talking about slippage here. That is the reason Deputy Cullinane is highlighting the absolute necessity of a new cancer strategy. Some 15% of chemotherapy patients and 23% of radiotherapy patients do not start treatment on time. It is as simple as that. There are delays in surgical care, with 61% of prostate cancer surgeries, 45% of breast cancer surgeries and 39% of lung cancer surgeries not happening within the recommended timeframes. That speaks for itself. It is just not good enough.”
“We have had families to whom disinformation was provided at times even by gardaí. We have had families at each other's necks. There has been further information in relation to this particular case. The families were quite happy that, as I say, an investigation was ongoing. They engaged recently, and were told that despite the fact that there are witnesses and new information, this case is not going anywhere. I ask the Minister of State to bring it to the senior Minister from the point of view that I think we need to make sure this State ensures no stone is left unturned.”
“We need to make sure we provide a framework and delivery for those who have been abjectly failed. I would also bring up the case of Seamus Ludlow, a forestry worker who was killed in Dundalk. This happened 50 years ago, on 2 May 1976. The family has recently met with the Garda. I put it to the Minister of State that there is a need for real engagement on this case. We know that the Glenanne gang was a UVF gang which obviously had cross membership of British state forces and a number of other engagements. What we are talking about here is a gang that literally was members of the British Army who killed Seamus Ludlow, a man who was not involved in anything. Not only do we talk about the failure of Governments at the time - particularly Liam Cosgrave's Government - but we have had families who did not get the investigation that was required.”
“We have just commemorated the anniversary of Dundalk bombing of 19 December 1975, in which 62-year-old Jack Rooney who worked for the council and 60-year-old tailor Hugh Watters were killed. That was a bomb attack at Kay's tavern. That is a family that has been abjectly failed by the State over many years. That happened on the same night that Trevor Brecknell, Patsy Donnelly and Michael Donnelly were killed by the same outfit, the Glenanne gang, in Donnelly's bar in Silverbridge. We know there have been significant inquiries and we know what has happened in relation to Operation Denton, but we need to see the full outworking of that inquiry and the full information. We know there are other families that have been failed. That is right through, whether we are talking about Castleblayney, Belturbet or the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.”
“We also know as we do this that there is an absolute demand from across this House that we ensure that our engagement with the British Government is about ensuring it stands up to the promises it has made about a decent legacy framework and a step back from the protection that has been provided for British state forces, which is in no way acceptable to basically anyone on this island. I have yet to hear from somebody who is in support of it. That is an absolute requirement. We have been through a period where the only positive I can say is that there is at some level a greater level of understanding of the dirty war that went on in the North. I would like to draw attention to two particular cases.”
“We supported the demand of the families of the victims of the 1998 Omagh bomb for a full cross-Border public inquiry. Obviously, the Government has declined to establish a parallel, independent inquiry in this jurisdiction. In the absence of that, we need to see that we would have the fullest level of co-operation. Families have many grievances not only about the heinous act that occurred in 1998 but also in relation to the investigation. Many questions need to be answered about what information was known previously. I think that is only right. On some level, we are dealing with what has been a failure in the past.”
“I urge you to raise this issue with the Minister for Health and the Government and to support an urgent review of mileage and travel allowances for community healthcare staff so that they accurately reflect the real cost of fuel and travel. Community nurses play a critical role in keeping people out of hospital and supporting patients in their homes. It is essential that they are not financially penalised for carrying out this vital work. I restate what was said earlier, which was that an insufficient offering is on the table in relation to the reduction in the cost of fuel. This needs to be addressed. I get that the Government cannot do everything, but I am saying that there needs to be further action in relation to the cost of home heating oil because people are under severe pressure.”
“A constituent sent me a letter. It states: I am writing to you to highlight the serious and immediate impact that rising fuel prices are having on community nurses and their ability to provide essential healthcare services. Community nurses depend heavily on travel to reach patients in their homes, often covering large rural areas every day. Unfortunately, the current travel and mileage allowances no longer reflect the true cost of fuel. As prices continue to increase, the reimbursement provided does not cover the actual expenses incurred while carrying out our duties ... Ultimately, it may also affect the continuity and quality of care that patients receive in their own homes.”
“We also need to eventually play our part in developing a roadmap to a better world where we will not have to deal with this madness.”
“It seems that, as dangerous as we think the world is, it keeps getting worse and worse. We have seen the war in Iran, which is obviously an absolutely illegal action by genocidal Israel with the absolute backing of America. We hope the American President, Donald Trump, has bitten off more than he can chew but we do not know what the future holds. It has also meant a lifting of restrictions on the sale of Russian oil. What engagement has the Taoiseach had with others on this? I reiterate what was said here earlier, in that while we obviously want to see reductions in the price of diesel and petrol, we cannot avoid dealing sufficiently with the huge costs people are paying for home heating oil. We have to protect ourselves.”
“I have interacted with many of those working with Tusla in recent times and they are doing fabulous work while under pressure. I have not seen that this organisation has the capacity to deal with the need that is out there. We talk about special emergency arrangements being unregulated. That says it all. We have created a system that does not have the capacity to look after those whom we need to look after. I welcome some of the work around apprenticeships and such. They are an absolute necessity. However, we need to make sure we have enough social workers, social care workers and foster carers. Alongside that, we also need to make sure we have a system that can meet families where they are at and that we then have the capacity to deal with those complex needs. At this point, it is failure.”
“We also know that not only does Tusla deal with some complex and difficult circumstances, it also has a remit in relation to early interventions. We have not seen the State take this sufficiently seriously in relation to those supports that are needed by families and communities. Many of them have been failed. We are, in particular, talking about the supports needed in areas of high deprivation, where there are families who have had to deal with trauma, poverty, addiction and, at times, the failure of mental health services. It is being left too late because we do not have a system that has the capacity to enter. The circumstances and situation are allowed to get too bad. That is not to take away from the work Tusla staff do.”
“There are issues that can be resolved, whether it is the pension issue or other specific issues that impact on how they carry out their day-to-day operations. In 2025, there were 3,782 foster carers. This was down significantly from 2019, when there were 4,130. I was told in a private conversation after that committee meeting that we are short at least 500 foster carers. That tells us straight out that we have a system that has an insufficient number of staff to deliver on the issues that are out there. While I welcome the fact that there is a new operational model and a different way of triaging and trying to introduce social care workers and social workers where needed, we have heard of multiple cases where a social worker was needed by some of most vulnerable in society but was not available for them.”
“This is not the first time that Deputy Kerrane and I, as well as Deputy Carthy in relation to international protection issues in particular, have raised these issues. We are talking about social workers. At the last count, there were 1,728 employed and the number rises to 1,754 with agency staff. Senior Tusla staff told us that number is 300 short of the complement required to deliver what is needed. There are 1,422 social care workers, but that is at least 100 too few. We are also talking about foster carers. My heart goes out to them. Any time I have engaged with those dealing with foster care on a long-term basis or an emergency set-up, I have been completely blown away. We need to commend them and give them any help that we can.”
“Many people have been focused on Tusla recently because, unfortunately, we have had a slew of tragic cases. I am talking about Kyran Durnin, Vadym Davydenko, Daniel Aruebose and Oisín Reddin. We also cannot forget the case of the ten-year-old who had been in Tusla's care and the heinous attack on her. The Child Law Project went through a number of other cases that are harrowing. I agree with Deputy Kerrane that it is far too easy to get up in this House and slam Tusla. However, when we had Tusla in front of the children's committee, its representatives were quite specific about the fact that it is understaffed. Given the complexity of the issues that Tusla has to deal with these days, it is set up for failure if it is understaffed.”
“Not quite. This is usually when I ask for some element of flexibility. Given the day that is in it and the fact that I am here with Deputy Byrne, I once again offer my solidarity to her. What Trivela has done as the owner of Drogheda United is an absolute disgrace. I am glad that she is doing what she always does, which is fighting her corner.”
“Our job as the Opposition is to hold the Government to account, but it is necessary that any legislation relating to the media that comes from the Government holds the media to account, and then the media in turn holds all of us to account. That is only fair and proper. I have no doubt that, if there is co-operation across the board, we will all look to find the framework that will work from the point of view of ensuring that we not allow a very small amount of people to gain too much of a foothold in the media, control the message and possibly undermine democracy. We need to ensure that those protections are introduced because there are far too many damaging aspects in the world at the minute that are impacting on democracy. We need to make sure that we do not allow this to continue.”
“Of course not. I can see the Minister of State is taking notes on all of the gems I am offering up. This is the world we live in. It is important that we make sure that we put in the supports and checks. What has happened to date across the world is frightening. What could happen in the future with the tools that are in the hands of big tech and media moguls scares the life out of me. Some of this is what has facilitated the likes of Donald Trump to make his way into the White House. Like other instances, it also shows the failure of many others in politics. We need to ensure that it cannot happen here.”
“It cannot publish what it wants and any lunatic cannot just start spouting. We even have an occasional bit of lunacy in this House. It happens occasionally and I want it to be called out when it happens.”
“We all welcome the necessity of artificial intelligence in relation to healthcare, innovation and so on, and we all understand the wonderful communication means we have at our disposal, but, in real terms, we need to have regulation because we know the abject harm that is being done by social media companies with their recommender algorithms. They keep people in really unhelpful and terrible spheres, for want of a better term. I was nearly going to show my age and say "sites". We have all seen where someone starts looking at one thing on TikTok - which, like every other company, profiles its customers, including their age and where they are from - and then all of sudden it can put them down a rabbit hole that is really dangerous for them. I accept that the regular media has certain controls and protections for people.”
“That framework is about the media and the huge impact and footprint it can have. We cannot leave that in the hands of a very small number of people. It would work if we were dealing with really sound people who had really good manners, but, unfortunately, that is not what we are dealing with in the world at this point in time. As Deputy Byrne said, all parties across the House will need to work together to ensure that we get the best system we can. It goes without saying that we need to ensure that the gaps we saw during the Grok situation are addressed by whatever legislation is required and that we address whatever weaknesses there are, be that through our online safety Bill or the Digital Services Act at a European level.”
“We have also seen the backing that is being provided by Donald Trump. We then have Pete Hegseth telling us that the Strait of Hormuz would be open but for the Iranians. They seem to be firing missiles and causing problems. We also had the beyond scandalous killing of more than 170 schoolchildren when a school was attacked with a Tomahawk missile. I understand that Tomahawk missiles are made in the United States, but we all heard Donald Trump's answer in relation to that. Even Pete Hegseth said that there would need to be an investigation because Donald Trump made out that it might have been the Iranians. That is the world we are in. We need to make sure that we can control whatever piece we can and feed into the European Union, including the European Commission, so that we have some element of a framework.”
“I remember speaking to a garda at an event years ago. We were talking about the need for road safety and things that needed to be done on a particular road. He said that if An Garda Síochána was dealing with people who had good manners, it would not need half the rules and regulations. Unfortunately, we are not dealing with people who have good manners, but that does not matter. Whether it is in relation to the Irish media market or regulation across the board in the online space, we need rules because we cannot rely on the likes of Elon Musk and whatever particular rant or moment of lunacy he is going through at a particular time. When we talk about truth at this point in time, what does it even mean any more? We have seen the brutal actions by genocidal Israel in Gaza, Lebanon and throughout the wider Middle East.”
“We know the detrimental impact modern media has had on politics on a worldwide basis. We know the issues regarding misinformation, disinformation and abject lies, as well as a lack of control. While we welcome the added powers for Coimisiún na Meán, we will need to see it operate them. We need to see a regulatory framework for social media that will work because we also know that social media companies and big tech have abjectly failed to regulate themselves. We have all seen the disgrace in relation to Grok. As Deputy Byrne said, we could have done with Coimisiún na Meán and the Government acting at an earlier stage, even just to show an interest in the matter and an intent that the creation of child pornography and such would not be facilitated, no matter who was in control of these companies.”
“We also see every day, although in some cases we may try not to see, what Fox News and others do in America. We can call these news corporations but there are probably more suitable terms. We are into the realms of absolute farce at this point in time. That is a particular issue. Can we deliver media scrutiny and proper rules and regulations across the entire world? Of course we cannot. We have to deal with Ireland. As Deputy Byrne said, we are doing this on foot of European legislation. In this case, we are very glad it was initiated but we need to ensure we have all the checks and balances and due diligence necessary to ensure a huge level of ownership, control and power are not left in a small number of hands, who can work in concert if they choose to and who can direct and disrupt politics.”
“Deputy Joanna Byrne has already stated the issue, which had previously been brought up by Lynn Boylan, regarding the fears we have about Ireland's media being owned by a very small number of players. We brought this issue up because of the huge footprint Denis O'Brien had at the time. You cannot talk about the negatives of media ownership and the impact it can have on world politics without talking about what Rupert Murdoch did in Britain. He decided who would be prime minister. Prime ministers did deals with him before they were within smelling distance of an election. Tony Blair has gone on the record as having done that. What was that headline about Neil Kinnock and the last person out switching off the lights? That is the reality.”
“Bogfaidh muid ar aghaidh go Saincheist Thráthúil Uimh. 5. Is í seo an cheist dheireanach. Tá sí in ainmneacha na dTeachtaí Cullinane agus McGuinness. It is to the Minister for Social Protection to discuss pension issues concerning former Waterford Crystal workers.”
“I accept it is not the Minister of State's fault in relation to Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu's illegal war, but the fact is that for three weeks now we have been looking at a cost-of-fuel crisis on top of a cost-of-living crisis and we really need to see action taken. I would have thought that what is going on at the minute might bring sufficient focus for the Government, but it looks like it was probably necessary for Sinn Féin to bring forward this evening's Private Members' business to place an absolute focus on it. Like many others, I have community nurses sending me letters and emails and making correspondence on the basis of that high cost. I will give those to the Minister of State afterwards. They are worried that they may not be able to provide the service required because of the cost-of-living crisis.”
“I am also told that we need about 1,000 more personnel. When I look at the National Service Plan 2026, I do not see answers in relation to the needs that Louth has at this point in time. We are all talking about community paramedics, and that is something we all welcome, but it is also about seeing movement regarding the recognition of those who have advanced paramedic training and seeing more privileging courses. We need all of those issues to be dealt with. It is very important that people are close to home. We can see the issues that would arise if somebody had a very long commute at the moment.”
“We need to ensure that is delivered as close to home as possible and that we see transparency in the process. The fear relates to what will happen in the future. We are very glad this solution has arisen but the problem should not have arisen. There should not have been a need for these discussions between the union and the HSE because this was an absolute breach of trust. Also, we are talking about 76 of those who are graduating now, but there were 400 altogether, so we need to ensure that they will also face the same set of circumstances, that they will have a position that we absolutely need them to have and that they can be placed as close to home as possible. I believe that is absolutely necessary. My understanding is that the staffing number for the NAS is around 2,500, with about 1,800 front-line staff.”
“We witnessed, first-hand, the damage this most recent situation did to staff morale, new and seasoned staff alike. The successful resolution of this issue has helped, but we have quite the journey still ahead of us.”
“That is only right, and it is down to the necessary action that was taken by many of the graduates. I would like some sort of explanation as to how this hiccup happened. The graduates are being promised that every effort will be taken to ensure they can be placed as close to home as possible. Will the Minister of State come back to me on that? A huge number of issues remain unresolved in relation to advanced paramedics. There are only two privileging courses. The Irish Society of Paramedicine wrote to me. It probably wrote to many others also. The email stated: From our perspective as frontline workers in [the National Ambulance Service] NAS, the resolution of this issue offers a small amount of hope for the future. Worryingly, morale among frontline NAS staff has been very low for quite some time now.”