Mr. Bernard Gloster:

If I could address the high-earners report, this is an issue that has been of concern to this committee in previous Dáileanna. We publish that to be absolutely transparent on the rate and scale of earnings. Those earnings are not illegal, whatever else anybody might think. I find them quite difficult to accept at times but I did make a commitment to the health committee of the Dáil of 2023 that we would deal with those very exceptional ones. The high-earner report this week was for 2023 earnings. In 2024, that consultant’s earnings have reduced to €364,000 from €900,000 because of our use of the public-only contract, our increase in the number of posts in their specialty and tighter management.