As we speak there is a major crisis in our hospitals. There is the term "bed blocker", which is very offensive and derogatory, used to describe people who have no choice but to stay in hospital because there is no social or care package in place for them.

As we speak, Ms Mary Corrigan, a woman in her 60s from Ballyfermot, is discharging herself against medical advice from St. James's Hospital. She has been there for eight months and was told in June that she is perfectly fine to go home but a care package for her must be put in place. They have not been able to secure one. Mary is not alone and there are hundreds of people up and down the country having to stay in hospital because they cannot get home care packages.

This system is broken and in absolute crisis. This Government must address it immediately. I noticed recently a Minister of State behind the Taoiseach, Deputy Damien English, made changes to the employment permit system for workers outside the European Economic Area so they could come in to work in construction, meat plants, opticians and horticulture.

Where are the home care workers who are desperately needed for hundreds of people throughout the country?

To be fair to the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, about 5 million extra additional home care hours were secured in last year's budget. The waiting times went down and the flow through the hospitals was significantly improved and enhanced. The issue now is to get workers. The funding is there-----

What do you do about bringing in workers?

You fast-track and accelerate the work permits system, and you liberalise it.

They are not included.

Health is included in respect of that and bringing people in to meet the-----

No, it is not.

I will check that again. Three priority areas are health, construction, and technology.