Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator.

I wish to make a point about public health, which is what this is all about. My strong suspicion and the view of public health professionals is that public health has been a poor relation of other healthcare in this country for a very long time. I was before the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response earlier today. Today we made two very significant announcements. The first is that I have just sanctioned a doubling of our public health workforce. Before the Covid-19 pandemic reached Ireland we had 254 people working in public health throughout the country. That includes the eight public health bodies, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, and other areas. We are adding a further 250 staff, which will include public health doctors, public health nurses, scientists and administrative and management support.It is a very significant statement of intent that we are doubling our public health workforce.

Another measure which I have just sanctioned is that public health doctors will have access to consultant grade. The Cabinet passed permission for the relevant enabling legislation yesterday. Essentially, until now public health doctors or specialists have not been able to achieve consultant status. As such, they have had to work on a wage that is not shoddy by any stretch of the imagination, but is certainly not comparable with what their colleagues in other branches of medicine have achieved.