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

There has been no Government decision on this per se. Talks were convened under an independent chair. They went on for some time. That independent chair has now been appointed to the courts. Unfortunately, those talks were not successful. It is now intended, therefore, that the Government will re-engage in the coming weeks with the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association with the revised offer. I hope they will accept it. I think most Members of the House would agree that €252,000 a year is not a bad salary. That is what is on offer. Some modifications to that will be offered, which I hope consultants will find acceptable.

The figure of 800 vacancies is a little misleading. Most of those positions are filled by locums or people on temporary contracts. The impression is sometimes given that a vacant post means that nobody is there doing the job. That is not the case. In any walk of life or any business, there will be people whose positions involve temporary contracts or who operate on a locum basis.

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