Ms Caroline Spillane:

In response to the question about the number of specialists available, the role of the Medical Council is to ensure that doctors on the specialist division of the register have the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to operate at that very high level. We benchmark this to the best international standards. It is the concern of the council to ensure in the public interest that doctors on the specialist division of the register have the necessary knowledge, skills and competence to operate at that level. If a doctor has the necessary qualifications to enter the specialist division the Medical Council will register that doctor. There is also a role for the employer to ensure that there is an adequate number of doctors in whatever speciality and for the various training bodies to ensure that their training programmes take into consideration future needs for specialists in various areas. The Medical Council has a role in accreditation of post-graduate training and the council ensures that the future needs of the health service are adequately addressed through the number of doctors being trained in various specialties.