Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for bringing the Nursing Homes Ireland issue to my attention in recent days. I have asked the Department and the HSE to engage with Nursing Homes Ireland. He is correct in stating that nursing homes have a very important role to play in winter planning. From a patient perspective, we need to keep as many older people as possible in the more comfortable environment of nursing homes rather than in emergency departments during a very busy period. I look forward to the engagement between Nursing Homes Ireland and the HSE.

There are two parts to the answer to the question on consultants. The first involves what I outlined to Deputy Donnelly earlier, namely, that the Public Service Pay Commission suggests that a process on the issue of new entrant pay should be considered at a particular point. My Department will consider how best to advance that matter with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The second point is that we also have the Sláintecare report. Donal de Buitléir's group is carrying out a major examination of decoupling private practice in public hospitals in line with Sláintecare. At a certain point, this will require contractual engagement with consultants. There is the monetary piece from the Public Service Pay Commission. There is also the issue of dealing with the job specification and how we can ensure that consultants and medics who want to deliver healthcare reform are able to do it under their contracts. Those are the two big issues we will be working on in the context of consultants.