Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses present today for taking the time to be here and for the work they have done over the past four months.

I will ask four questions because other members want to get in. First, what is the current advice on the wearing of masks to all staff working in hospitals? Are they required to wear masks at all times within the hospital premises? Second, according to the IMO presentation this morning, 160 specialist registrars, SpRs, have completed their training in full and not one of them has been offered a job. Can I get clarification on the reason there has not been engagement to employ them, especially when there are quite a number of vacancies across a range of specialties?

I raised my third question on forward planning three years ago. It concerns the number of consultants who will retire between 1 July 2020 and 1 July 2021. The old process was that jobs were advertised before the person retired. There are more than 3,000 consultants. That figure was increased by more than 1,000 in the past ten years but quite a number of consultants will retire over the next 12 months to two years. Is there forward planning in respect of consultants who are retiring?

My fourth question relates to the need for additional hospital space in Cork. We had the benefit of both the Bons Secours and the Mater private hospitals during the three-month takeover. What is the plan now? Cork University Hospital, CUH, could not deal with the volume of work it had even before the Covid-19 pandemic. The Mercy and the South Infirmary hospitals are under serious pressure. What additional space is being identified as suitable for setting up patient treatment in the Cork area? The consultants in CUH used the Mater private hospital to try to reduce the waiting list for gynaecological services and it worked very effectively. Can that be used in other areas whereby the consultants employed by the HSE would go into those hospitals and transfer people on their public lists with a view to doing particular day care procedures? What progress has been made on those issues?