Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I am afraid I do not necessarily agree with the contents of the reply. The information that I have is that we still have a major problem in that the number of people applying for posts is drastically reduced, and the number of posts advertised which attracted no applicants.

I have been consistently looking for exact details of vacancies in hospitals since 2012. I got a reply from the HSE less than 12 months ago that it could not give me that information. We are talking about a national organisation and between 2,500 and 2,800 posts, and yet the HSE could not give me a breakdown of the vacancy levels. It has now put a mechanism in place to compile all the information.

If we go back 15 or 20 years ago, when it was known that someone was retiring, a post would be advertised before the vacancy arose. The HSE seems to have developed a policy, especially over the last five to ten years, of allowing the vacancy to occur first before advertising it. As a result we are paying for locums and agency doctors. I have no evidence that this has changed since I raised this issue over two years ago. I know of positions that have arisen and six month later the advertisements are in the newspapers for a new consultant. That has not changed and is an issue that should be taken back to the Minister.