Dr. Ciaran Browne:

Clinical directors are expressing concern because they are looking forward to what potentially might be their vacancy rate and they are making adjustments based on potential contingency plans they might have to put in place. As Mr. Condon said, we have been in this situation previously and there has been no diminution in services subsequently. In some cases there might be a requirement to reduce some services, for example, outpatient services, but many of those decisions are made on the basis of local priorities. For example, the contingency plan that one might need to put in place for a large tertiary hospital such as Beaumont Hospital will be significantly different to perhaps a smaller hospital in another location.

Each of those clinical directors is making those adjustments. It is a dynamic situation and at the moment they are trying to put in place those contingency plans should the need arise. Previously we have seen other initiatives that helped with the potential impact any vacancy rates may have caused.