Mr. Tony O'Brien:

We will provide Senator Colm Burke with a written response to his question on counties Cork and Kerry. Based on information we have received by text, as it were, we believe the Senator's understanding of the matter to be incorrect. We are currently replacing vacant nurse posts in that region and the current number of nurses is the same as last year. Increased throughput in our national recruitment service means the time required to replace such posts has been reduced. We will provide the Senator with a written response as the information I have provided is based on a response to a brief inquiry we made.

My understanding is that it is now the norm to provide non-consultant hospital doctors with contracts of 12 months' duration. Six-month contracts are now the exception.

We will examine the issue the Senator raises concerning emergency tax. However, I would not expect emergency tax to apply when a person moves from one payroll to another. I will raise the issue with payroll staff.