Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That would represent the best value for money.

I wish to raise a further point about the lack of consultants. The Minister will be aware that a large number of mainly foreign doctors have been residing in Ireland for many years at registrar level. Is there an opportunity to consider providing additional training or fast-tracking some of these doctors? They have the experience, but it would appear that, for other reasons, they are not being appointed to consultant positions. The Minister does not need to give me an answer. This is just something he needs to consider.

Although we have been discussing Covid and the deferment of elective patient procedures and so on, there are significant resourcing issues in the National Ambulance Service, NAS. New ambulances and additional capacity were tendered for. We need to look at this issue long and hard before the winter arrives.

My time is up, so I will send the Minister a document that I imagine has been sent to many Deputies and Senators. It relates to a submission that has been backed by Professor Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate from Stanford University. It is worth discussing with NPHET. It challenges some of the perceived wisdom that obtains currently. It is important that the submission be looked at by outside health experts so that we can all agree that we are following the best path.