Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

Some people are actually criticising the Minister for making these exceptions. He has considered applications case by case. It is a matter for the management of an organisation, be it the HSE or otherwise, to prioritise the vacancies it wants filled at a given time.

There may be some substance to what the Senator is suggesting but I am not in a position to declare one way or another whether the HSE in Galway was incompetent in this matter. I simply do not have the evidence to suggest it was or was not. Clearly, prioritisation is required on the part of all public bodies to determine the posts they need filled urgently and the kinds of arguments they should put forward in this regard.