Mr. Barry O'Brien:

As Professor McGovern said, the committee is raising an issue which is of concern to us as the statutory body tasked with the provision of health care. However, it must be put in context to bring some balance to our discussions. In the last five years, over 10,000 people have been extracted from the overall employment ceiling for the health services and the budget has been reduced by €3.5 billion. At the same time, we have increased our employment of consultants by 500 and also increased our employment of NCHDs. In response to Deputy Mitchell O'Connor's comments about paying peanuts, the average cost of medical personnel in the Irish public health system is €131,000. The next nearest cost in the payroll is €64,000 for a nurse. Below that, every other employee, on average, costs less than €55,000. Therefore, to suggest that we are not paying an appropriate rate, comparable internationally, is -----