'Deeply concerning' HSE staff cannot  answer Dáil queries, says Cork TD 

A Cork TD has said it is “deeply concerning” that the HSE are telling public representatives that they cannot answer parliamentary questions due to a shortage of administrative staff as a result of the Pay and Numbers strategy.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould contacted the HSE with six questions about the National Ambulance Service after a person working there got in touch.

Half of the questions were answered, and showed that nine staff left the ambulance service in 2024 for reasons other than promotion, transfer, or retirement due to age or illness; services are responding to 17% more calls than two years ago, but have not seen a staff increase to match; and staff must use their own phone while working, with no reimbursement for credit.

However, half of the questions were not answered, with the same response given by the HSE to each: “In relation to the specific information you have requested, there is no service plan or operational reason for the creation of such reports.

“In the context of the impact of the recruitment pause in 2023 and the employment ceiling arising from the HSE Pay and Numbers Strategy 2024, there are no clerical administrative staff available to undertake this work.”

Unanswered

The unanswered questions included how many shifts longer than 12 hours were undertaken by paramedics in the National Ambulance Service in each of the past six months, and exactly how many staff have been working in the service and how many calls have been responded to each year for the last 10 years in Cork.

Unions representing health-sector staff have been calling the Pay and Numbers strategy “a recruitment embargo by another name” since it was implemented in July of last year.

However, the HSE previously told The Echo that the strategy was “welcomed” and “a positive step”.

Mr Gould told The Echo: “I submitted these questions because a member of the ambulance service contacted me. That the HSE are now telling me they can’t answer them because of the recruitment embargo is ridiculous.

“Accountability and transparency must be at the core of the work of public bodies. This is never more important than in our health service.

“If the public do not know what is happening in the health service, they cannot trust it. That is the reality.

“This is an important cornerstone not just of our democracy, but of our public services.”