Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The Minister will be aware from his position as Opposition spokesperson and in his previous professional capacity that Sinn Féin and I have long advocated addressing the privileged position of consultants in the health services. This is not a response to the current economic difficulties post the Celtic tiger era; it long predates all of that.

Does the Minister accept, as I expect he will, that the basis of any reform in so far as consultants are concerned must be best outcomes for patients and equal access for all patients to best care? Steps must be taken to address what can only be described as the obscene level of remuneration which some consultants enjoy under the current contract and the aberrations that have recently come to light, namely, that consultants are entitled to take off, with full pay, their final year of service prior to retirement or, more bizarre, to appoint themselves as their own locum and be paid double for a year's work. These are absolute obscenities. What steps is the Minister taking to address those particular unacceptable anomalies with the current arrangement?

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