Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I am aware of the Minister's intent in that regard, having received a written response to a parliamentary question from him in which it was stated that two consultants are currently being targeted and that 40 others will be pursued. It was also stated in the reply that the Minister is serious in this regard, for which I commend him. However, I specifically asked the Minister about the anomalies in respect of the entitlement of consultants to take off, with pay, the final year of service prior to retirement or to employ themselves as locums and be paid twice for the same year's work.

The Minister's reply to me on 14 September contained a tabular statement outlining the various levels to which consultants' pay could drop and the impact of this on the overall health budget. It would appear that if consultants' pay was capped at €150,000, the coffers of the Department and HSE would be significantly improved by tens of millions of euro. Is the Minister actively working towards a new contract for consultants and general practitioners? Will he indicate to the House today if engagement with the representative bodies is already under way and that progress has been made on such a new contract?

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