Mr. John Hennessy:

I have had some experience directly with Letterkenny in the past and I can tell the Chairman that Mr. O'Brien is correct that the isolation factor in Donegal and Letterkenny was proving a particularly difficult issue in terms of recruiting, particularly highly-skilled consultant staff for Letterkenny General. That was a problem that was recognised, certainly, two or more years ago. At that point, there was a reliance in Letterkenny on locum cover for approximately 12, or, at one point, even up to 14, consultant posts out of a hospital complement of about 60.

The problem there was that the normal recruitment approach in relation to consultant recruitment through the public appointments system was not addressing that or was not providing solutions, and a bespoke campaign was launched to address that about two years ago. I would not be up to date recently on it, but I know that, of the 14 or so posts that were targeted in that recruitment campaign, quite a significant number were filled permanently through that campaign. It was targeted not just on a local basis, but on a worldwide basis, to attract people with particular skill sets to Letterkenny and Donegal. An acknowledged problem was recognised over two to three years ago and a very direct approach was taken to address it; I know that there was significant success. As I say, I would not have the most immediate information on how that is progressing but I do know that a number of posts were appointed permanently in Letterkenny.