Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for attending this morning. My question 20 was specifically on consultant vacancies and I was astonished by the reply I received in that the information has not been given to me. I do not accept that the information is not available. We are talking about 41 hospitals. If I got the name of a porter in each of the hospitals, I have no doubt they would be able to give me the information I seek. It is appalling that a manager of a hospital cannot tell a central office the posts that are currently vacant.

I am surprised the reply refers to these changes happening over a short period. Consultant posts do not change over a short period. People are in a post for ten, 15 or 20 years, so I do not understand the reason for that reference. The second part of the reply refers to the recruitment embargo. I was not aware that the embargo applied to the recruitment of consultants. The reply is not adequate. If someone from the media asked the same question, I believe the information would have been furnished to that person. I am very annoyed that I cannot get what is basic information that is available to every hospital manager. We are talking about 41 hospital managers, and if they do not have that information, they should not be in their jobs.

Question 22 was on the implementation of the recommendations of the McCrea report. Again, the reply was fuzzy. No clear indication is being given that the terms and recommendations in the McCrea report with regard to changing the structures of how we employ general doctors are being implemented. That is something to which priority should be given. We have a huge problem on our hands with regard to the recruitment and retention of general doctors. Services are being affected and many consultants say that if some of the general doctors they currently employ had applied for the same jobs five years ago, they would not have been employed. Standards are falling. We need to address that, and the reply does not deal adequately with the question I posed. I ask that I be given the information I have requested.