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

I checkedpublicjobs.iejust the other day and there are currently only 20 consultant posts being advertised there. Others may be advertised through the voluntary bodies but on publicjobs.ieonly 20 posts are being advertised at present. It seems we will need a fresh approach as notwithstanding the issues around pay, there are also issues around the recruitment process. It has far too many layers, with posts left vacant for months or years but never advertised.

We have new contracts with nurses, midwives and general practitioners, GPs, and I imagine we could have a new contract with consultants as well. I know the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, will want to engage with the Irish Hospital Consultants Association and the Irish Medical Organisation on that. The same principles will have to apply and we need to modernise our contracts if we are going to put taxpayers' money behind pay increases.

There has been a 50% increase in the budget for home help over the past three years, which is considerable. I am advised by the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, that provision has been made for an extra 800,000 home help hours this year and the waiting list is slightly shorter than it was this time a year ago. I have, however, heard anecdotal evidence from many Deputies and even from my constituency office that the position may be more difficult than suggested by the numbers. We are still examining that.

I replied to questions on tomorrow's strike in detail in the past few hours and I do not really wish to add to my earlier comments except to say it is our view that an appropriate offer was made to start implementation of the pay rises in November this year.

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