Mr. Bernard Gloster:

To add to that, it is important to recognise that at the moment, because of approvals of new developments over the last eight or nine years, we have 421 jobs filled by temporary or locum consultants which we are seeking to fill permanently and another 506 which are vacant posts. In the last two weeks, I approved the mobilisation, as it were, of an international recruitment campaign both for Irish doctors who have gone abroad to enhance their training and to see how many we can attract back and also for non-Irish trained doctors to consider coming here. All that is hinged around the new consultant contract. Traditionally our advertising of posts has been the standard public appointments website and medical journals. This will be a very targeted, high visibility campaign across five or six countries. We will see but, as Dr. Henry said, ultimately, one’s determined qualification to be on the specialist register in Ireland is a function of the Irish Medical Council.