Organisations representing healthcare workers, namely, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, made presentations to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health yesterday, describing what I can only relate is the appalling position of front-line workers in the health service. A properly funded, well-run health service would have struggled with this pandemic but as the Taoiseach is no doubt aware, as a former Minister with responsibility for health, a properly funded and well-run health service is something we do not have and never have had. The only reason we do not have an absolute disaster in our hospitals is the self-sacrifice, hard work and double-shifting of our healthcare workers.

Last night, we saw healthcare workers responding to the third wave of the pandemic on the front line in Tallaght hospital with the "RTÉ Investigates" programme. The same healthcare workers are predicting a tsunami of lack of care and missed care post Covid unless there is a radical change in terms of funding, staffing, recruitment and retention, extra beds and serious resourcing of public health specialists and facilities. We knew before Covid-19 and we certainly know now that the "make do" attitude at the top of the HSE, the Department and successive Governments will not do; it is not acceptable and it must change.

The inability to provide good quality healthcare, regardless of income, is one of the many shameful failings of this State. We are one of the richest countries in the world per capita but we continuously fail to provide for essential needs of citizens. Many issues were raised at the committee meeting yesterday, including a lack of protection in workplaces, where 12% of Covid cases are in healthcare workers. It is still an issue. There is abuse of trainee nurses and the random nature of the vaccine roll-out for healthcare workers because we are not targeting the most affected reasons. There is a lack of testing in hospitals, aside from when there is an outbreak. There is also the issue of childcare. It is appalling that the HSE has said childcare is not its problem and people had to deal with it individually. This must change and there must be a childcare allowance for healthcare workers.

I specifically raise the demand from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association for compensation to its members due to overwork, long shifts, etc. This is in addition to the recent claim from the health service staff panel. In England and Scotland, a once-off payment of £500 has been paid to healthcare workers and in France there has been a payment of €1,500. The key question is about post-Covid leave, respite and a chance to recover from fatigue and burnout. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment, on behalf of the Government, to facilitate this measure and start planning for it now?

I pay tribute to the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last evening, which revealed the extraordinary work of front-line healthcare workers in protecting our people and achieving incredible outcomes for a significant number of patients whom we saw on the programme. Unfortunately, a number of those patients passed on, which was very traumatic for the staff and all those who work in the hospital. It underpins the importance of all of us sticking to the guidelines and adhering to regulations in order to get down case numbers and reduce significantly the pressure on front-line healthcare workers in hospitals and nursing homes. It is a critical effort to get those numbers down and relieve the pressure we saw in last evening's programme.

The programme also illustrated the fillip and morale boost that the vaccination programme provides to staff and front-line healthcare workers in the hospital. The phrase was used that it provided "hope" with an "end in sight" and there was a great buzz around the place when the vaccinations were taking place. More generally, we must say that the only issue impeding vaccinations so far has been the supply from the manufacturers. We are administering vaccines as we get them.

The two priority groupings have been front-line healthcare workers and residents and staff in nursing homes. That is the truth of it. That is what has happened. In many respects, the personnel, all of the clinicians, everybody working in nursing and all of the staff who appeared last evening represent the HSE. From a policy perspective, when the Government did the budget this year, we increased overall resources by about €4 billion. Some €600 million was put in before the budget for a winter initiative, which has yielded results in terms of the flow through hospitals outside of Covid. As I said earlier, 7,000 additional staff have been recruited to the health service and many more will be recruited during the course of 2021. Coming out of Covid, one of the key lessons is that there will have to be significantly higher investment in our health service. The challenge now is to embed the increased levels of investment that we have experienced during Covid, while identifying and evaluating what works, and to make sure that this stays in the base of our health service funding into the future. However, it must be coupled with reform as well.

The idea of a national Health Service Executive has come into its own in the context of the pandemic. A single national entity that could, for example, resource PPE and administer it, operationalise a vaccination programme and deal, in a national context, with countering the global pandemic, has been an important point that we should register and acknowledge, despite all of the criticisms. The outcomes in our hospitals are on a par with if not better than the outcomes in the other European health systems. It is time to acknowledge that, too. While acknowledging criticism and limitations, there are quite a significant number of positives emanating from the performance of our hospitals and acute services, and of the HSE, in the context of a once-in-100-year global pandemic.

I agree with the Taoiseach. The response from healthcare workers has been absolutely phenomenal. However, they have done it through hard work. They have been working double shifts, they are in the hospitals and they have made sacrifices in respect of their family life. In the case of one couple shown in the hospital last night, while one was working the other was at home looking after the children. They then turn around in the following week and do the same again. The fact that the HSE has not given a childcare allowance to healthcare workers is astounding and shameful. It must be changed immediately. The Taoiseach should come to the House today and say that it will be reversed.

Specifically, what I asked the Taoiseach concerned compensation for members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, as well as of the health service staff panel, that is, workers right throughout the health system, and the care they will need after the pandemic. I am not criticising the nurses and doctors. I am criticising the lack of targeted resources going into these areas. Yesterday, it was pointed out that 2,000 beds are needed in the healthcare service. Where is that money coming from and where is it being targeted? We must fight for the workers after the pandemic.

The Government will respond to and recognise the extraordinary efforts that front-line healthcare workers have made. The Government will do that. The precise timeframe obviously has to be considered. We are not out of this pandemic yet. There are just over 1,000 people still in hospital. The numbers are still 25% higher than the April peak. There are 175 people in intensive care. The pressure is still on our hospitals, and we need to get that pressure down. That is why we need to adhere to the regulations. That is why we are in favour of prolonged suppression of the virus to get the numbers down to very low levels and to keep them there. That will inform our approach to the period post 5 March, when there will not be a significant reopening of many sectors of our economy. We will focus on a phased return of schools.

In respect of non-Covid health services, there has been significant utilisation of the private sector deal on this occasion, with up to 2,300 bed nights alone used, and 30% of ICU beds used for non-Covid urgent procedures.

What is the Government doing to compensate workers?

That concludes Leaders' Questions for today.