John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair. I was actually just writing a note to say that I will have to depart. A group from the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland is coming in at 11 a.m. and I am hosting them. I am really thrilled to have an opportunity to speak. I will only use five minutes of my time. I thank the witnesses. I am really concerned about some aspects of their presentation. I am very taken aback and surprised. I will just focus on one aspect, that of the HR relationship in hospitals. The witnesses' evidence certainly took me by surprise with regard to the conditions. The average layperson would probably think that doctors are highly respected and very influential in the day-to-day running and management of a hospital and in the decisions that are made, although they may just think that about consultants.

What I read and hear is of a powerless group of people who do not seem to be represented or have a representative voice and who are afraid of speaking for upsetting the apple cart, but not just that, of endangering their career prospects. This is the kind of stuff that we as politicians hear from low-wage and low-income workers who are on zero-hour contracts working in the retail setting. It is really shocking for me, certainly, and I can only speak personally, to read about this.

I thank the witnesses for this body of evidence they have brought forward. I think the health world should be very shocked by this. The doctors are the oil in the engine of the hospital system. I am also really taken aback and minded by the witnesses saying that it is not all about money. Often, in the public mind, people think doctors earn so much and want more money. On the well-being piece and all of that kind of stuff, I am really struck by the idea that non-consultant hospital doctors, NCHDs, and consultants feel undervalued by the HSE. I was driving in the car listening to all the contributions remotely before I arrived. What struck me is that an awful lot of stuff in the witnesses' presentation is very fixable. There are some complicated bits and pieces in terms of contracts and that kind of stuff but what really struck me is how much of this is fixable and quick fixes are available.

I have one question in the very little time I have available. We interact with hospital management groups all the time. What can we as politicians do with regard to the management structures in hospitals? I refer to this idea of having to replace a doctor. A teacher does not have to find a substitute if he or she calls in sick. Panels are in place for this kind of situation and the principal, that is, the boss, has to ring around the panel. The Department of Education facilitates this in its own way. I think we will be coming back to this topic. I am sorry for ranting on; this is my question. Do the witnesses think some of the power structures in some of the hospitals are out of control in terms of the respect in which hospital doctors are held?