Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. I have two questions. Recruitment is a huge, and probably the most pressing, problem in the Irish health service. Earlier, the witnesses from the IMO identified salary as the fourth in priority of wishes of NCHDs to remain in this country. Working conditions, length of contracts and career progression and hope for the future were ahead of salary. Perhaps the witnesses would comment on how those could be addressed. The second item relates to transforming medical care. The witness suggests that all new consultant and GP contracts should be public-only contracts. How do they envisage that working? I can see, perhaps, how public-only consultant contracts can work in a hospital where there are a number of consultants who can take over the care of non-eligible patients. However, I do not see how it would work in general practice, where only 47% of the population has an entitlement to a medical card. If one moves to a single-tier service in which everybody is covered it would be possible to allow GPs to have a public-only contract, but that would not be possible in the current situation. If everybody is eligible, why would there be a contract rather than a salaried position?