Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. A main concern with maternity services is that reports are produced and, as has been highlighted this morning, strategies are not being implemented. A 2003 report recommended that there should be 180 consultants by 2012. Is it possible to outline the number of whole-time equivalent consultants that are currently employed, and how far short of the 2003 target are we? Are there sufficient people in training to enable planning for the next three to four years? If positions are advertised, are there sufficient people coming on stream to fill those vacancies?

On the anomaly scans, the witnesses are saying there are a number of units that are not able to provide that service. What needs to be done to ensure that every woman has access to this facility, whether in her own unit or in an adjoining unit? What staffing numbers are we talking about? Do more people need to be trained or do we need to employ more people, and in what numbers? There were 23,000 women who did not have the facility of that scan. What timescale would be needed to ensure that the service is available to every person who is pregnant?