Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Health yesterday, the Secretary General of the Department of Health, Mr. Robert Watt, confirmed that it is not intended to appoint a new chair to the medical consultants contract negotiations. The chair who was there, Marguerite Bolger, was appointed to the High Court last September. Seven months later, we still have no chair. There are 838 consulting vacancies at present around the country and no progress has made in getting consultants appointed. In addition, there has been no progress in the negotiations. Was the decision not to appoint a new chairperson taken by the Government. What is the intention with regard to progressing these negotiations in order to ensure that we have an attractive contract for people who want to work in Ireland but who believe that the current terms on offer are not suitable in the context of either their experience or of how they want to work in the Irish health system?

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