I welcome the Minister, Mr. Reid and their officials and I thank them for being here today. I agree with Deputy Stephen Donnelly that we have a huge problem in terms of consultant recruitment. I mentioned at previous meetings that 16,000 additional staff have been recruited to the HSE in the last four years. I have also raised concerns about the disproportionate recruitment of staff, with a 24% increase in managerial and administrative staff versus an increase of as low as 3.6% in hospital staff.

On the consultants issue, the Minister referenced an invitation to a meeting to the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, to discuss, among other things, the two-tier contracts in regard to consultants. Will the Minister clarify what process will be engaged in with the Irish Hospitals Consultants Association, IHCA, which feels excluded? It was indicated a number of months ago that there would be engagement with it, but it has not yet occurred. In the last number of weeks in particular it is at sea with regard to what is happening. At what stage will engagement take place with the IHCA in regard to the process and how it will be involved in this area?

An additional 500 consultants were recruited over the past five years, but a number of consultant posts are currently occupied by locum or agency consultants at huge cost. We can only fast-track a reduction in this cost by putting in place a better structure of employment. It is extremely important this is done. Before I continue, will the Minister clarify when it is proposed to engage with the IHCA, which represents the majority of consultants across the country? Five years ago, it represented 2,500 consultants but it currently represents approximately 3,000. When will the engagement with the IHCA take place?