Now that we are well on our way to 2024, I cannot help but think of the families in my area who are still struggling to get a public health nurse appointment. Babies in areas such as Lucan, Newcastle and Rathcoole may be showing signs of early developmental delay that are going unnoticed simply because of a lack of service.

It is incredibly stressful for first-time parents who simply do not know what to look out for. People are just utterly frustrated at this stage and I can understand why. I am frustrated myself. This is my eighth time raising this matter at Government and national level. I have been working really closely with the HSE on the need for more public health nurses. The executive has the budget for hiring new staff and has advertised for these roles but there is still a shortage of applicants and because of that, there is a shortage of service. How can the Government intervene?

Right across the health sector, as we have heard already this morning, the inability to attract and recruit the skills and staff necessary is impacting services. In most cases it is not a financial issue but a lack of capacity to get the skills we need from home and abroad and I suspect that it is the same in Deputy Higgins's constituency. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to come back with a specific answer in relation to nursing in the Deputy's area.