Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)

It is not all doom and gloom in the health service. Comments were made about the administration side of the health service and while that may be true, it should be remembered that successive national wage agreements have had an effect. There is an industrial relations bargaining process and practices have built up which are not easy to root out. We have recently seen the conclusion of talks with the consultants' body and I congratulate the Minister for sticking with that difficult process which has now come to an end. The home page of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association website is still urging its members not to apply for any of the new positions. That is the difficult environment in which we live but I congratulate the Minister for sticking with that difficult job.

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