Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 139: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason no new hospital consultants have been appointed in 2006; if this is the result of her failure to deal with the ongoing dispute over the hospital consultants contract; the steps she intends to take to provide the hospital consultants that are needed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29551/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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During the period January 1st to September 25th 2006, a total of 48 new consultants were appointed to permanent posts in the public health service. These posts are in a range of specialties, including medicine, surgery, anaesthesia, pathology, psychiatry, radiology and obstetrics & gynaecology.

During the same period, a total of 102 consultant posts have been approved by the HSE, comprising 64 additional (new) posts and 38 replacement posts. The total consultant establishment in the public sector in Ireland is 2,083.

Following sanction by the HSE, the filling of consultant posts is undertaken by employing authorities. These include the HSE, the publicly funded voluntary hospitals and voluntary agencies. The recruitment process can take about a year. This is due to a number of factors, such as the advertising process, which can often involve international advertisements, the establishment of appropriate interview panels, the number of candidates returning from overseas to occupy these posts and the need for candidates to give up to six months' notice to their current employers in order to avoid a service deficiency in their current roles.

Figures relating to 2005 help to illustrate this; in 2005 a total of 128 consultant posts were approved, of which 36 were filled in 2005. However, a total of 143 consultants took up duty as permanent consultants in 2005, many to posts which would have been approved prior to 2005.

In relation to 2007, the HSE has supplied a comprehensive Estimates 2007 document to my Department, which includes submissions seeking additional consultant posts in a range of areas which reflect the growth in demand for services and the continued need to move towards a consultant provided service. As part of the Estimates process, my Department will be engaging with the HSE in relation to funding additional consultant posts in 2007.