Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A recent report stated that less than one third of consultant posts advertised since 2012 have been filled. This is alarming, to put it mildly. The figures show that just 36 of 104 consultant posts have been taken up at this stage. The Public Appointments Service has confirmed that it received no applications for some consultant posts and it has re-advertised a number of times. A recent "Prime Time" programme on RTE provided the information that one locum in a certain hospital was paid up to €300,000 for services in a 12 month period. We must move with more urgency towards getting the overall situation back to normality.

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