James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

The last part of Deputy Ó Caoláin's question is the easiest to answer. Whether we have the full complement by 11 July, we will still continue to recruit over the course of the next six months to ensure we do not face this problem again. It should be borne in mind that legislation will be introduced which will allow for temporary registration for two years. This will mean these doctors will have security of tenure for two years; likewise, we will have the security of knowing they will be here for two years.

Up to 254 places are unfilled. As the recruitment process is ongoing, it is difficult for me to tell the Deputy precisely which hospitals are going to suffer. On "The Frontline" I said it will more than likely be the smaller hospitals for several reasons, chief of which is that the regional centres serve the bulk of patients, including those from smaller hospitals with more serious injuries. Doctors who have already applied to the hospitals that will be affected will not be pulled away from them. Doctors recruited will be sent to the areas of highest need and according to their speciality. There is little point in sending a paediatrician to an emergency department.

I know today that 65 more doctors have chosen to sit the Medical Council's pre-registration examination, the PRES exam. Also, 70 visas were granted to doctors already recruited who have satisfied our requirements and are most unlikely to be unsuitable. Accordingly, with the PRES and those recruited already, we will not have unsafe or poorer quality doctors.

The number of recruited doctors is beginning to rise. I will have much clearer idea of the figures tomorrow by 5 p.m. Contingency plans are in train but are dependent on numbers we have recruited.

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