Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 11: To ask the Minister for Defence the circumstances surrounding the appointment of a medical professional (details supplied) to minister to troops in Liberia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7210/06]

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 20: To ask the Minister for Defence the arrangements in place for the sharing of facilities between the Defence Fores and other forces in Liberia; the number of troops attended to by a medical professional (details supplied) in Liberia that were not part of the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7200/06]

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of members of the Defence Forces who received medical treatment from a medical professional (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7205/06]

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 57: To ask the Minister for Defence the discussions that he has held with any European counterpart with regard to the appointment of a medical professional (details supplied) to attend to the medical needs of troops serving in Liberia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7201/06]

Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Defence if the agency responsible for recommending a medical professional (details supplied) to work with the Defence Forces in Liberia is still retained for work by the Defence Forces or his Department; if this agency has been responsible for making similar recommendations before or since this appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7203/06]

Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will account for the doctor recruited on a contract basis to members of the Defence Forces serving in Liberia who had been struck off the medical register in his home country of South Africa; the investigations he has undertaken regarding the situation following these revelations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7168/06]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 20, 29, 57, 61 and 70 together.

The background to the engagement of Dr. Lieberthal arises from the Defence Forces policy of providing medical care for personnel serving with large contingents overseas. In the case of missions such as Lebanon and Liberia it is the practice to send medical officers as part of the contingent.

Given the arduous nature of the Liberia mission, with troops undertaking frequent long-term patrols away from base, it was deemed necessary to have two doctors with the battalion. The mission in Liberia is, of its nature, a peace enforcement one. This resulted in a situation whereby medical officers who had been recruited prior to 1993 could not be detailed to serve there and could only be selected to serve there as volunteers. These requirements coupled with a general difficulty in recruiting and retaining doctors in the Defence Forces created a situation whereby the medical officer requirements for the mission could not be fully met among the doctors serving at that time.

Following a tender competition involving a number of agencies, a contract was placed with Medicare Solutions Limited, Unit 15D Oakcroft Road, Chessington, Surrey, England. The contract was initially for a period of three months commencing on 1 June 2004 and was subsequently extended to February 2005. Following a further tender competition, a fresh contract was placed commencing 1 March 2005. During this time Medicare Solutions had supplied a number of other doctors for periods lasting from a few weeks to three months. This contract expired on 31 December 2005. As and from 1 January 2006 the Defence Forces have been in a position to provide doctors from within the medical corps. The services of the agency are therefore no longer required. The procedure for selecting suitable individual doctors was that candidates were identified by the medical corps from the curriculum vitae supplied to the Department by Medicare Solutions which had expressed an interest in working with the Irish military contingent in Liberia.

This selection was made on the basis of the professional qualifications and particular clinical experience of the various applicants as per their individual curriculum vitae. Dr. Lieberthal was selected to replace another previously selected candidate who had decided not to proceed to Liberia at very late notice. There appeared to be nothing whatsoever untoward in the curriculum vitae supplied in respect of Dr. Lieberthal, who was interviewed by telephone by a senior officer of the medical corps.

Dr. Lieberthal was first appointed for a three-month period from 8 December 2004. He was retained in Liberia until 31 December 2005, when the overall contract with Medicare Solutions expired. He worked in a civilian capacity and provided primary military medical care services to troops, that is, largely care of the routine general practitioner type. He also provided a similar level of medical service to the contingent of Swedish military personnel. In this connection Ireland and Sweden provide an integrated quick reaction force to the United Nations Mission in Liberia, UNMIL. Both nations are co-located at Camp Clara, Monrovia. They share certain logistical and welfare facilities. This includes the Irish medical facility, which is staffed by both Irish and Swedish medical personnel. The Swedish medical contingent included one doctor.

It was only after the contract had expired that it came to the attention of the military authorities that Dr. Wynne Lieberthal had been struck off the South African medical register by the Health Professions Council of South Africa in July 2004 after their investigation of various charges brought against him under the relevant South African legislation. As the first priority was the welfare of the troops who were attended to by this man the director of the medical corps contacted each person who had served in Liberia during the period in question alerting them to the situation and advising them of the measures the medical corps were putting in place to deal with any concerns they may have.

As a result any Defence Force member treated by the person concerned and who wished to discuss any aspect of his or her treatment with a medical officer was invited to consult his or her local military medical officer or alternatively to contact the special medical hotline established by the Army medical corps. To date there have been six calls to this hotline.

Legal advice is being sought as to the performance of the specialist medical recruitment agency engaged to provide suitably qualified doctors who either had or would be expected to fulfil the requirements of the Irish Medical Council. It would not be appropriate to anticipate the outcome of this advice and possible follow-up action at this stage.

In connection with the overall situation I would like to make the point that arrangements for the engagement of doctors to provide medical cover for Irish troops serving with UNMIL were made under the pressure of having troops deployed in a hostile environment. In particular Dr. Lieberthal was hired as a last minute replacement for another doctor who could not take up duty.

It was preferred but not necessary that doctors engaged for service in Liberia would be registered with the Irish Medical Council. They only had to apply on taking up duty. As such registration is a lengthy process, a number of the doctors engaged finished their tour of duty without being registered. Therefore, the fact that Dr. Lieberthal's application was still being processed at his departure was not considered unusual. It should be pointed out however that in the first instance the person himself should not have commenced work based on falsehoods.

The overall position in relation to the recruitment of medical officers is being urgently reviewed with a view to ensuring that medical services available to contingents serving overseas are of the highest quality.