Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank our contributors. I reiterate the sentiments of a previous speaker that the submissions are comprehensive. One thing that comes out in almost all of them is frustration, and severe frustration at that. We are all frustrated by what we have heard over recent weeks. We also have significant worries about what September, October and November may bring into the health service.

Mention was made of specialist registrars who were not given temporary fellowships or asked to remain in the service. We could impact on many of the waiting lists if we were to group them under radiology and scopes and increase activity in this area. A significant number of retired surgeons put themselves forward to be available through Be On Call for Ireland. I understand that technically specialist registrars could do some of this radiology and scope work if they were supervised by people with greater experience who have kept up their competencies. Are the witnesses aware of any plans, or have they spoken to the HSE about implementing something like this after hours using operating theatre space, these specialist registrars and some of the people available through Be On Call for Ireland to increase activity, thereby increasing capacity and impacting on the waiting lists?