Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am told now that a report will probably not be ready until sometime in September. That is down to the fact that so much consultation has to take place with everyone who is affected, not only the staff in the hospital but GPs in the area and, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, the impacts that this may have on other hospitals such as those in Naas, Tallaght and Tullamore. I am told it could be September before a plan of action will be ready. I have seen the letter from the Laois GPs. I was pleased to note they called for the HIQA report to be implemented but of course reports have to be implemented in full, not only the parts of them that one likes while leaving out the parts that one does not like.

Part of the under-six contract was that we made it a stipulation that anyone getting such a contract would have to be a member of a specialist register for general practitioners because we do not think it is acceptable that somebody who is not on the specialist register should work as a GP and treat children for their ailments. Yet we do see it as acceptable in Ireland that we can staff emergency departments with people who are not on the specialist register for emergency medicine. It is an issue up and down the country that we allow so many of our centres not to be staffed with specialists. The reality is that there may not be sufficient specialists available to staff them all with specialists. Therefore, are we willing to accept an inferior level of care?

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