Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the presentations. I also thank the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, for attending to deal with our questions.

A new acute hospital for Cork is proposed in the national development plan. A committee was set up to help identify a site but my understanding is that it has not yet met. Even to identify a site is going to take some time. I am concerned about the growth of population in Cork. It has gone up by over 130,000 people in a short time. Even if we start a new hospital in the morning, the population increase in Cork will be between 160,000 and 170,000 people. This will put significant pressure on Cork's existing hospitals. Can we be provided with a timeline for the hospital's construction? From the initial identifying of a suitable site to the planning process thereafter could take up to two to three years. I want this to be moved on. Nothing seems to have happened on this issue so far.

On staffing numbers in the HSE, the number of nurses in real terms from December 2014 to December 2018 will have increased by 629. At the same time, the number of nurse managers has increased by 1,093, going from 6,602 to 7,695. The number of whole-time equivalent consultants has increased by 397. Is there a detailed plan as regards recruitment in the HSE and strategy? I am concerned that management and administration has gone from 15,112 to 18,131, an increase of 3,019. This is now higher than it ever was prior to the cutbacks. We do not seem to be able to get people on the front line, however.

Agency doctors have cost €110 million in the past 12 months. We could actually recruit 500 additional consultants at a higher pay than what is being offered at the moment. Using €110 million to pay 500 consultants would mean a salary of €220,000 per consultant. We have a figure where it is not attractive for people to come back, in particular to Dublin with the cost of housing. Will we review this? If so, when? When will a package be provided that will have a far better return as regards having permanent people employed rather than agency staff members who we do not know from one month to the next if they will be there or not?

Mr. Jim Breslin said we need to move away from an over-reliance on the hospital system. Part of the solution to that relates to GP services. Where are we with the GP contracts issue? It is a concern among general practitioners, particularly regarding how they do not know how to plan the development of their practice over the next three to four years. These contract negotiations have been going on for quite a long time. I pulled out one of my press releases recently, dated August 2016, in which I was looking for the contract negotiations to be fast-tracked. Two years later, we do not seem to have made progress. I am concerned that, on the one hand, we do not burden the hospitals but, on the other, when we need people on the front line, we do not encourage them to provide the service we require.