Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. He gave a comprehensive reply when I raised this issue as a Commencement matter. I want to refer again today to the issue of long-term planning and the need to ensure vacancies are flagged at an early stage. I know it is not within the Minister's powers to resolve that immediately. The last time I debated this matter with the Minister, I made the point that the HSE was unable to tell me how many consultants intend to retire during 2015. This is fundamental to this whole issue. If we are trying to plan for the filling of vacancies, information needs to be available at central level. The HSE needs to know what positions are likely to become vacant over the next 12 months. That would enable the advertising process to start before the vacancy arises. If I offer a job to someone who is working in Canada, it is likely that it will take him or her at least nine to 12 months to come to Ireland to take up the job. It is extremely important for us to take that into account, especially in the very specialised area of transplantation. A degree of urgency is required in forward planning. We are experiencing problems as we try to fill vacancies. Reference has been made to the €110,000 pay level. In fairness, people can come in on different increments. They do not have to start at €110,000. There is discretion in how that is managed. I would make a complaint in this regard, however. If a person who has worked as a consultant for three years also has an MBA degree, that is not taken into account when the pay scale at which he or she should start is being calculated. I think there is some intransigence among HSE management regarding this matter. It is an issue that needs to be resolved. The manner in which we deal with this entire issue needs to be prioritised.