Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the presentations. I have a question about the Bord Altranais agus Cnáimhseachais na hÉireann registration. A nurse who returned from the UK in early December and submitted an application has been advised that despite being due to start in a job on 1 January, the registration could not be completed until the end of January at the very earliest. Can something be done to expedite that? That is also an issue for people returning from abroad trying to register with the Medical Council. I have come across cases of Irish graduates coming back from New Zealand and it taking eight to ten weeks to get Medical Council registration. Appropriate representations should be made with them to expedite those registrations.

How many junior doctor vacancies exist? How many agency doctors will we need to employ in the coming six months? What progress has been made on implementing the recommendations of the MacCraith report? The use of six-month contracts is one of the reasons for so many Irish doctors disappearing out of the country.

The witnesses have pointed to a slight increase in the budget for 2015. Can we have a slight increase in the home care packages? We really should have a substantial increase in that budget. Some 20,000 people a year are coming in under the older than 65 age group. That does not necessarily imply there will be an increase in people seeking those services but in recent years there has been a substantial increase in people seeking home care packages with no increase in budget. Therefore we should give priority to it now.