Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The urgent care centre in Connolly Hospital Dublin did not open at the promised time. As has been acknowledged, this was due to an inability to staff the unit and recruit consultant paediatricians. The Tallaght urgent care centre is planned for 2020. Does the HSE have a staffing plan in place? The number of consultants in the system appears to be insufficient, with a shortfall to the tune of 500. The Minister will be aware that the consultants have expressed no confidence in him and that view is shared by many. I do not intend that in a personal way but it is a matter of public record. We have a recruitment and retention crisis among consultants. We discussed the case of a pain consultant for Crumlin earlier. The urgent care centre is only open on a nine-to-five basis at the moment, which is not what was promised, and the centre in Tallaght is due to open in 2020. Will it open on time? Can the Minister say with any degree of confidence what the opening hours will be, given that both he and the Taoiseach gave a commitment that the urgent care centre in Connolly would be open from 8 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week?