Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a particular issue with consultants and single-handed general practitioners who can be extremely difficult to replace if they retire at short notice. The replacement periods are often the genesis of service gaps.

The head of primary care, Mr. John Hennessy, has started a specific project with the new community health care organisations, CHOs, to identify general practitioners who are likely to retire in the coming years in order that succession planning can commence. This is particularly important in rural areas and areas where there is a single-handed practice. Some hospital groups where it is known that consultants will retire have started to make what are known as proleptic appointments. This was already done to some extent. It means that if it is known someone will retire in three, four or five years, the post may be given to a registrar, for example, who is heading off to America. This proleptic appointment means the job is available should the registrar wish to return. We could do much better on succession planning than has been done to date. If it was politician succession planning, it would certainly be done much better.