Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming in to talk to us. The Minister made the point that we have the best doctors and nurses and I believe we do. However, I want to hear him comment on his move last October to reduce the salaries of consultants by 30% and the JobBridge-type programme he has produced for nurses. Speaking to a few consultants who are friends of mine, they are very worried about the level of quality of doctors we will continue to attract in this country. Like the previous speaker I would like the Minister to clarify exactly how many consultant posts the HSE has advertised, how many have been filled and how many have attracted any consultants to even apply for the job. In the business world when we want to fill posts with the best people we have got to pay for them. I know we are in times of great turmoil and nobody wants to see anybody paid too much money, but I would like the Minister to talk to us about administration and management. It is so important, but we also need the best front-line technicians, which we have managed to have in this small country of ours.

The Taoiseach wants us to be the best small country to do business in. I am sure the Taoiseach and the Minister want this to be the best small country in the world to be sick in, or to be cured by. Could the Minister please address this? The friends I am speaking to are getting older. Consultants in, for example, St. Vincent's University Hospital are leaving as we speak to take up posts abroad. New, younger consultants are not taking up the positions. My consultant friends say some of the consultants who are taking those positions are not of the calibre of the consultants we should be attracting to those positions.