Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Through the Chair, the Deputy must know what is happening here is urgent.

On reading one of this morning's newspapers — I believe it was the Irish Independent — I note Deputy Reilly was quoted as saying that the salaries being paid by way of overtime earnings to non-consultant hospital doctors in the mid-west is outrageous. The reason it is outrageous, to use his phraseology, is because of the way we organise services. We have people on call in four hospitals in that region at night to deal with a very low level of activity in three of those hospitals. Not only does it not make sense from a financial point of view, it does not deliver high patient safety outcomes for the patients who visit these hospitals. This has nothing to do with the doctors or the staff, it has to do with the manner in which——-

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