The announcement by the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, on Monday that 97% of junior doctors had voted in favour of industrial action demonstrates how frustrated and demoralised they are with their treatment by the HSE and the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. Figures today show that 1.3 million people are still on waiting lists. The average time spent waiting to be seen in emergency departments is 11 hours, and it is longer for those aged over 75. Therefore, it is no wonder that representatives of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, have said that nurses are at the end of their tether, cannot provide the clinical care required and are burnt out physically and mentally. Is it not time for urgent action to be taken by the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to meet the demands of the front-line healthcare workers? We need a firm commitment to establish a comprehensive, single-tier and universal health service that is free at the point of use. Is it not time to take over private hospital capacity and bring it into public ownership to provide the extra capacity urgently required to resolve this escalating crisis?

We of course appreciate how hard our doctors and nurses are working in providing the medical care so badly needed after the demanding years we have been through. We can see the impact that is having on waiting lists. Regarding the industrial action referred to by the Deputy, and taking the national consultant hospital doctors, NCHD, issue, which is now the subject of potential industrial action and unrest, the number of such doctors that we have in our health system has now gone from 6,091 to 7,720. That is an increase of more than 1,600 over the last number of years. The number of people working in our health service, that is the numbers of front-line staff, including nurses and doctors, that we have, is I think nearly at an all-time high.

So are waiting lists.

This has been put in place to respond to the waiting lists, which we will get down as the year goes on.

I thank the Minister. The time is up.

I urge those who are so concerned about their work and conditions to engage in the processes available in the State for the resolution of these matters and in the wage discussions now under way.