Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is going over old ground. We have been over the issue of whole-time equivalents before. I actually gave him the figures the last time as well. It is perplexing and wrong that these are not full-time positions. It would be helpful it the Minister could listen to me. It is perplexing and wrong. Will the Minister please explain to the House why these 1,800 people are not on full-time contracts? Will he please explain how that is not a systems failure? In the limited time we have, will he also please update the House on what he has done to bring in more consultants? He is really out on a limb on that question.

I have heard the Minister speak about changing the way in which recruitment is carried out, decentralising it and giving more hiring power locally. I actually agree with him 100% on that, but what has he done to achieve it? Will the Minister also inform the House of the percentage of those who have been recruited when he gives us the figures in a week and a half's time? We also need to be careful about the process of recruitment. We may have real issues in other healthcare areas because recruitment will be from a smaller pool, that is to say, we may be taking people from nursing homes and so on.

See this speech in context