Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do. There are many different things going on. The first of two of the big ones, of which the Deputy will be aware, is moving the public health doctors to consultant status, which is important. The Department is currently in preliminary talks with the IMO about how that might work. I am meeting with public health doctors this Friday. The second is an expansion of the workforce. I have sanctioned a doubling of the workforce. We are working through exactly how that might be deployed. There are public health doctors, public health nurses, data specialists and scientists. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, is looking for them as well.

Like the Deputy, I want to pay tribute to our public health doctors. They have worked incredibly hard. We have a small number of them but they are doing a huge amount of work in the community with testing and in the national response with the schools. They have been working damn hard and they are tired. They most definitely deserve our thanks and respect. More importantly, they deserve an investment in public health.

There are currently 72 public health doctors permanently employed as specialists and-or directors in public health medicine in the HSE. I have committed to the early introduction of a new framework for public health, as provided for in the programme for Government, as well as the establishment of a consultant-led public health model. Budget 2021 provides for recruitment of up to 250 additional permanent staff. The HSE is looking at hiring up to 400 temporary staff during the pandemic response. They will support the public health teams.

The public health doctors have been advocating for many years for consultant status, which we are moving on. They have also said they need support staff around them. They are having to do a huge amount themselves that support staff should be doing. We are looking to hire and deploy, first on a temporary basis around the pandemic, but also on a permanent basis to support them.

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