Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Dr. O'Hanlon for his presentation. I have a few questions. The opening statement indicated that in 2016 alone, 31% of all approved consultant psychiatrists posts were filled on a temporary basis. Can one of the witnesses define "temporary" in that context? Is it three months, six months or five years? The opening statement also refers to non-specialists being appointed to consultant psychiatrist posts. People who were not qualified were appointed to consultant positions on a temporary basis. Are they qualified for those positions?

On the issue of agency staff, almost 90% of temporary post holders had agency contracts. These post holders had temporary contracts and non-specialists were moved into consultant psychiatrist posts. It was stated that it costs more to hire agency staff. As Senator McFadden said, if a qualified consultant is paid €185,000 a year, are these temporary or agency staff being paid more than €185,000 a year?