Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Corcoran Kennedy, to the House. I compliment my colleague, Senator Swanick, on tabling these very worthwhile amendments. While I fully accept the ruling of the Leas-Chathaoirleach that they are out of order on the grounds they would be a charge on the Exchequer, I fail to see how they could be a charge on the Exchequer. As Senator Swanick has pointed out, we have more than 200 vacancies for consultants. When Professor Crown was colleague of ours in the House, he brought forward legislation in this regard. At the time it was well received but nothing was done about it. While the House may not have a role in bringing forward legislation with financial consequences for the State, I urge colleagues on both sides of the Lower House to bring forward such legislation. I welcome the fact that Senator Swanick has said he intends to initiate such legislation in the House but I fear it will be knocked down for the same reasons as his amendments have been ruled out of order this afternoon.

At a time when we are discussing extending the retirement age to 68, 69 and even 70 in the years to come, I fail to see why it is not feasible, given the vacancies to which we have referred, to extend the retirement age for consultants.It is not a charge on the Exchequer because we have nobody to fill their vacancies when they occur. Until the pay and conditions are realistically tackled we will continue to have a shortage of consultants.

I compliment Senator Reilly on the work he put into the health service and was ridiculed for doing so, not only by the Opposition, but also by some of his colleagues at the time. When the commentator took over, who is now potentially looking for the leadership of the Fine Gael Party, he did very little.