Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Defence if a draft has been received by his Department from the consultants appointed to review the medical services of the Defence Forces; the date on which such a report was received; the reason such a report was not accepted as the final report; the instructions given to the consultants by his Department regarding the amendments or additions to be made to the draft report; when a final report is expected to be submitted by the consultants; the date by which the contract awarded to the consultants required them to submit a final report; if the contract included penalty clauses for late submission of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9879/09]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to dispel any confusion that might exist with regard to the review of the Defence Forces medical services currently being completed by PA Consulting. The normal process for consultancy of this nature is being followed. The consultants are formulating proposals based on an analysis of data and from their interviews and meetings with the various stakeholders. In the normal course, the basis on which these proposals are based is validated. As part of the quality assurance of the report, for example, a workshop was undertaken with the representative associations, PDFORRA and RACO. This workshop identified a number of areas in the report requiring further assessment.

PA Consulting sent further elements of the report to my Department as part of this quality assurance process. This was received on 15 December 2008 and may be the material to which the Deputy is referring in his question. There is nothing unusual in the review and quality assurance process undertaken on the material delivered. This is explicitly catered for in the tender document. Any interaction between my Department and PA Consulting has centred on ensuring the report is comprehensive, meets the requirements as detailed in the contract and can stand up to robust examination of its assessments and recommendations.

The delay in completion of this report may also have added to the confusion. The report was scheduled for completion before the end of 2008. I have been disappointed that the schedule I outlined in the House has not been met. My officials, the Defence Forces and PA Consulting are aware of my view that this report should be completed quickly. At the same time, a focus should be also kept on ensuring the report provides the blueprint for the sustainable provision of the medical input required by the Defence Forces. On receipt of the report and following consideration of the recommendations, I intend to publish the report and engage with all of the key stakeholders on the way ahead.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Who is at fault for the delay in finalising the report? Is it due to issues the Department had with the report or is it due to the consultants? As I asked in the question, and the Minister did not reply, was there a penalty clause for the report being late? It is most important that the Defence Forces are serviced by a proper medical corps. Both the PwC report in the 1990s and the first White Paper strongly recommended that there should be an establishment of 46 in the medical corps. At present, there are only 23. Missions such as the Chad mission are very demanding physically on our troops, both in terms of preparing them for the mission and when they are in the battle theatre. There is also the issue of the general health of our military personnel and the fact that there is a very high absentee rate in the Irish Defence Forces, compared with the rate in other countries. That is attributable to the fact that there is a deficiency in numbers in the medical corps. This is a matter of supreme urgency.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Deenihan is correct that the establishment is 46 but the number of doctors employed in the Army at present is 24. That is not to say the Army is only getting half the medical attention it requires. The lacuna is made up by employing private medical practitioners. Successive Ministers have made valiant efforts over the years to ensure the medical corps reaches its establishment level. Unfortunately, our efforts have not met with success, which is why we decided to bring in consultants to advise us on how to proceed. We have taken various measures such as, for example, renegotiating the salaries of Army doctors, recruitment campaigns and so forth but, to date, those efforts have not borne the requisite fruit.

In response to Deputy Deenihan's query about a penalty clause, the answer is "No"; there is no penalty clause. Rather than discuss questions of fault I prefer to get the matter right. The consultants were initially brought in last July. As part of the process they had to consult a number of key stakeholders. They found it difficult to do that during the holiday period of July and August so there was a delay. They presented an initial report to the Department on 15 December last. The material in that report was not directly released to the representative organisations but the basis on which the report was arrived at and some of its conclusions and recommendations were discussed with them. Everybody decided, including the Department and the representative organisations, that the consultants would have to work again on the matter on the basis that a number of items were not referred to and there was a problem with the clarity of some of the recommendations and with the clarity of the language. We are a little behind schedule but it is very important that we get this right.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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I agree it is very important to get this right, but the Minister must get it right as soon as possible. Has the Minister the figure for the cost of employing outside services for the Army to compensate for the lack of professionals within the Army?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Deenihan asked that question previously and I communicated the figure to him, as far as I can recall. I do not have it with me as I did not anticipate him asking the question again. I will make it available to him.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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That is the point — the cost to the Department of paying outside professionals could be the cost of employing sufficient qualified people in the Army.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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No, we have already examined that, as did successive Ministers. This is a problem that has bedevilled the Army for years through successive Administrations. None of us has managed to sort it out. Consider the number of doctors retiring over the years and the number we can get to replace them. Of the 24 doctors we have at present, eight of them are foreign nationals. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but it illustrates the difficulties we have. We are trying to get it right. It is important that we do that and get the most comprehensive consultants' report possible. I expect to have that within the next few weeks.