Mr. Martin Varley:

Deputy O'Connell made reference to false economy. We would be very much of the view this is a false economy and it is something that could have been addressed and dealt with. The health service managers have been aware of it for a long time. The root cause, as I said, goes back to the State and the health service management being in breach of contract and discriminating against new entrant consultants. There is no getting away from that, and that is where the solution lies. Why is it a false economy? First, it is a false economy because we have a large number of posts which are vacant and which are depriving patients in our hospitals of timely care. Second, there is the question of quality care and risk. Third, there is the issue that we are actually paying temporary consultants, some 70-something of whom we now know are not on the specialist register, significantly more than we are paying the permanent contract holders, in fact, two to three times what we are paying new entrants and even longer-serving consultants. The agency bill-----