The Tánaiste, as a dad of young children, like me, will appreciate the importance of public health nurses and the community health checks they perform. Could he give the House an update on the progress being made on the priority allocation of the 26.7 WTE community nursing posts that are currently being recruited by the HSE? Is there a timeframe for their being filled? We are aware of the importance of childhood development checks but we also know about the important role community nurses and public health nurses play with regard to older people who live at home and who may have a chronic condition as well and can be left waiting for treatment or intervention as a result of not having access to a nurse. I understand there has been a huge increase in the number of personnel working in the HSE and that the HSE is aware of the shortage in this area.

I ask that the Tánaiste redouble efforts to prioritise the recruitment of these roles. We want to ensure we catch conditions at an early stage in a child's life to make sure the child is set up for success and that healthcare in the community is maximised and optimised to its greatest potential.

I know this is a serious issue and has been in Dublin Mid-West, where it seems to arise particularly as an issue. There are approximately 1,803 public health nurses employed in the HSE and we have provided funding for another 26.7 - let us call that 27 - whole-time-equivalent posts in this year’s budget. My note here tells me that the HSE is making good progress recruiting those people, has recently been given commissioning letters to fill the new development public health nursing posts and recruitment has now commenced. My understanding is that, in parallel to this recruitment, the HSE is trying to carry out a number of short-term temporary solutions, including integrating services, reorganising work, engaging with the graduate nurse scheme to fill vacant positions and the redeployment of staff to make sure that areas retain a level of service while new staff are coming on stream. I will ask the Minister for Health to revert to the Deputy directly on the 27 new posts are they are rolled out.