Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I would have done it in the first week I was appointed. I looked into it immediately. It is an all-of-Government decision. Because there are wider pay considerations with upcoming pay talks, it was not possible at the time to do it. However, I consider it to be a very high priority. We are looking to do several good things as soon as possible.

By as soon as possible, I do not mean in a year or two, I mean as imminently as possible. The first is to move the public health doctors onto consultant contracts. They would be to the existing A contracts. The second is to create the Sláintecare contract. The detail of that must be done with the representative body, as it has to be done by agreement, but there is provision in next year’s budget for full-year Sláintecare contracts. The third, not necessarily in that sequence, is the new entry pay and equality issue.