Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 12: To ask the Minister for Health if he will outline the number of consultants who are not complying with the 80:20 public-private mix as outlined in their contracts; the actions that have been taken to reprimand such actions [8384/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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A core policy objective of the Government's health reform programme is to ensure equal access to health care based on need, not income, through a single-tier health service supported by universal health insurance. Ensuring compliance with the contractual limits on private practice will increase the availability of consultants to treat public patients and help ensure that access to services in each hospital is determined solely by clinical priority.

Consultant Contract 2008 limits private practice for newly-appointed consultants on a Type B or C contract to 20% of activity. The upper limit for consultants who held a contract prior to 2008 is 30%. The HSE has put in place arrangements to measure consultants' private practice and to pursue issues of compliance where necessary. The Contract provides for a series of steps to be taken where a consultant exceeds the level of private practice permitted in his or her contract.

In the light of the information emerging from the measurement of public/private practice activity, the HSE has engaged with the medical unions and individual consultants to pursue the issue of compliance, with a particular focus on consultants who are significantly in breach of their permitted ratio. There has been a significant improvement in the level of compliance with the private practice rules.

In 2011 employers undertook a detailed engagement with 32 consultants whose private practice accounted for 50% or more of their activity. In these cases the matters were resolved. In addition, the HSE suspended the private practice rights of two consultants who did not reduce their private ratio to an acceptable level. In line with the terms of the contract, one of these consultants has remitted the excess private fee income into a research and study fund in the hospital concerned. The HSE is now moving to address a further group of consultants, those identified as engaging in excess of 40% private practice.

I have asked the HSE to furnish the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the number of consultants whose level of private practice exceeds that permitted by their contract and I will provide this to the Deputy as soon as possible.