The very fact that nurses and midwives are engaged again today in industrial action is a reflection of the Taoiseach's incompetence. The failure of his Government to address the recruitment and retention crisis now gripping the health service and his inability to grasp this issue has led to a national crisis. It is not good for taxpayers that nurses and midwives are on picket lines. Has that occurred to the Taoiseach? It is not good for citizens or anyone who relies on the services of the HSE, and it is certainly not good for the nurses and midwives themselves. I spoke to many of them this morning at Holles Street and St. James's Hospital. I was there to demonstrate solidarity, but more importantly to listen to what they have to say. None of them wanted to be on the picket line. They are very angry and upset, but they are very determined. They want to be back at work and doing what they do best, which is caring for their patients. We all agree that they are, after all, the backbone of the health service. They work in very difficult and stressful circumstances and conditions. The reality, no matter how the Taoiseach tries to spin it, is that their pay and working conditions have given rise to a recruitment and retention crisis within the system.

I spoke to one midwife this morning who gave an example of just how broken the system is. She works in Holles Street. On one particular day she was the only midwife on a ward of 12 women. There was a woman there who had just had a C-section who needed help.

The woman was in discomfort. The midwife told the story that the woman would not press the bell or look for the midwife's attention because she could see just how stressed the midwife was and just how chaotic the scene was. What kind of service is it when someone in need of assistance feels moved not to ask for help when lying in a hospital ward? It is unacceptable.

The Government's so-called approach to the unions was not only discourteous; it was also disrespectful, utterly inept and had all of the hallmarks of its mishandling of this scenario to date. The Taoiseach has now conceded on the need for engagement and that is a start. What he now needs to understand are the parameters of that engagement. They must include no preconditions, direct engagement by the Taoiseach as Head of Government and direct engagement with the nurses, midwives and their unions. Nothing short of this is going to work. If the Taoiseach is interested in resolving this dispute in the public interest, he will engage directly and with no preconditions; he will step into the breach as Head of Government and respectfully listen to the proposals coming from the nurses and their representatives and weigh them up. Then, if he is wise, he will act on them.

We have had a system for resolving industrial relations disputes for 20 or 30 years now, including the time of the last nursing strike that went on for nine days in 1999. That is something I do not want to see repeated. Under that system, we deal with these disputes through the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court as the final arbiter in such disputes. That is the best way to manage industrial relations disputes. It has worked for 20 or 30 years and I have no doubt that it will resolve this dispute also. The Government and the various agencies of government are willing to engage through the WRC, as was offered yesterday, or the Labour Court, should it determine that an intervention is appropriate.

Reference was made to recruitment and retention. As I have said before, I acknowledge that this is a real issue. It is a real issue in large parts of the public sector and the private sector as we approach full employment. As the nursing unions have stated, when it comes to healthcare, we live in a very competitive environment where people with healthcare degrees can work in almost any part of the world. Notwithstanding this, since we lifted the recruitment embargo four or five years ago, there are some 3,500 more nurses working in the health service. That is a significant increase. In the past year alone, excluding students, approximately 800 more nurses and midwives are working in the public service. While there are plenty of people leaving, more are coming home or from other countries. While there are plenty of people leaving the profession, there are more coming into it. Our turnover rate of 5% is approximately one third of that in Australia, yet it is a struggle to recruit and retain. Deputies will know that we pay more than Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and most of the United Kingdom, with the exception of London. We pay more than most of Europe. All of those places have recruitment and retention challenges. Other places pay more. Australia pays more, as does the United Arab Emirates. Those areas and countries also struggle to recruit and need to recruit from all over the world. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that an 8%, 9%, 10% or 12% pay rise will actually solve the recruitment and retention problem. It has not solved the problem for Australia or the Middle East.

We are two days in and there are seven days to go, but all the Taoiseach has to offer is robotic monologues. Nothing he has said has within it the seeds of resolving the dispute. What can resolve it, as we have said to the Taoiseach consistently, is positive respectful direct engagement. That means engagement with no threats or sabre rattling on pensions or pay, engagement with no preconditions, engagement not to carve up a special deal but such that nurses and their representative bodies will believe the dispute can be resolved within the strictures of the current public pay agreement.

I have said this to the Taoiseach several times in the Dáil. The nursing unions have said this to him publicly. I have no doubt that anyone with an ounce of wit would give the Taoiseach the same advice privately, yet he was unwilling, as Head of Government, to make the very necessary move. We are two days down and seven days of further action are planned. If this strike continues, the fault lies with the Taoiseach. The blame lies with his spectacular inertia and refusal to act.

Listening to the Deputy's contributions in this Chamber and her advice on making agreements or managing industrial relations, one would be mistaken for thinking that somehow she was successful in this area. She and her party hold the world record for failing to come to an agreement and form a coalition in Northern Ireland. There is no advice that she can give us on negotiations, conciliation or reconciliation-----

I beg to differ on that.

-----and she has no credibility given her own record of being a commentator and a bystander in Northern Ireland when she should be involved in forming a coalition government there.

To repeat what I said earlier, and I mean it sincerely, this dispute can be resolved. The Government wants it to be resolved. We understand the grievances that nurses and midwives feel about their pay and terms and conditions. We understand the enormous public support they have and will continue to have. The Government wants to resolve this dispute. We are willing to engage in talks in the Workplace Relations Commission. We are willing to accept an intervention by the Labour Court if it determines that is advisable. It can be resolved but it must be resolved within certain parameters which all sides should be able to accept. First, it has to be affordable for the Exchequer. We cannot fund pay increases with borrowed money, particularly given the uncertainty ahead. Second, it must be fair to all other public servants, the 300,000 public servants who work very hard, with whom we have a deal and who are not on strike. Any pay issues must be paid under the umbrella of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Public Service Stability Agreement.