Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the elections in Myanmar, formerly Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi has made tremendous progress in securing a move towards a democratic system. In the first speech I made to the European Parliament in 2008 I called for her release. She was under house arrest for over 21 years and was eventually released in 2010. It shows that taking the road of peaceful means and the democratic system is best. She should be congratulated for the work that has been done by the party with which she is working. May the change she is trying to bring about be achieved in the not too distant future.

I am aware that Senators are tired of me raising this matter on an annual basis, but in November the issue of the recruitment of junior doctors arises. A simple issue has changed for them over the last four to five years. In 2009, the average junior doctor was able to get approximately €1,900 every six months to go on training courses. That is now reduced to the provision of less than €2,000 over a four-year period. We are anxious to keep junior doctors in this country but we are not doing enough to achieve that. Junior doctors must train to progress their career. It is a very simple matter that could be resolved. It must be dealt with, particularly when one considers that more than six hospitals in this country are now paying doctors under agency contracts, with over 50,000 hours per annum under agency contracts. There appears to be no joined-up thinking for dealing with this issue. Very little progress has been made in the last four years since I first highlighted it.

We are burying our heads in the sand on this matter. There must be a review of what has been done, what can be done and how fast it can be done. It is important that the Minister come before the House to outline the plan to deal with this extremely important issue during the next 12 months to two years. We cannot get the doctors we require to provide the health care that is needed by the people of this country.