Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I congratulate Deputies Brian O'Shea and Jimmy Deenihan on their new positions. I wish them the very best for the future.

There is an acknowledged shortage of medical officers in the medical corps. Indeed, developing the capacity of the medical corps forms part of the programme for Government. Whereas the establishment for doctors provided for in the new organisation of the Defence Forces, introduced on foot of the White Paper on Defence, is 47, the current strength of medical officers serving in the Defence Forces is 23, one of whom is on leave of absence without pay. There has been recruitment of medical officers each year, but the number attracted to work in the Defence Forces has just served to address natural wastage.

The military medical services and their facilities exist primarily to maintain the health of the Defence Forces and to support them in operational and overseas activities. The focus of the military medical service is on primary care, acute trauma management, preventative medical programmes and field medical training.

The problems with recruitment of medical officers into the Defence Forces have endured for some time despite the concerted efforts of my Department and the Defence Forces themselves to address the root causes. The pay and allowances of doctors and dentists were increased substantially recently, in consultation with the Minister for Finance. This increase linked their pay to public health doctors and dentists. In addition, the Defence Forces have recently undertaken an intensive recruitment campaign. The results of both of these initiatives have been disappointing, unfortunately.

My Department has also been engaged in an ongoing process with the representative associations on the issue of the health requirements of members of the Defence Forces. A medical services charter was agreed under Sustaining Progress. This collaborative work has been carried forward into the modernisation agenda under Towards 2016, which foresees work on developing a revised structure for the delivery of medical services for the Defence Forces.

The services of civilian medical practitioners are regularly engaged to ensure that the immediate primary health care requirements arising in barracks are met. However, it is accepted that the shortage of dedicated doctors needs to be addressed in the longer term.

All the stakeholders are committed to meeting the medical needs of the Defence Forces efficiently and effectively. We are working in partnership with those stakeholders to develop strategies to attract additional medical officers.

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