Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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975. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the resolution of the public health doctors and consultant deal in particular the terms for roll-out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21630/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Our Public Health Doctors have been to the forefront of our response to the pandemic and the role of the public health doctor has transitioned very rapidly from one of leading small, confined teams, to now leading and directing the activities of a very broad range of organisations and large multidisciplinary teams. They have made an enormous contribution to the protection of everybody living in Ireland.

The past year has highlighted the critical national importance of an appropriately resourced public health workforce, and through the Covid-19 Path Ahead Plan, this Government has committed to investment in, and resourcing of public health and the delivery of a strengthened and reformed consultant-delivered public health model.

An Agreement has been reached with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) that will support the implementation of a fundamentally reformed public health model at a national and regional level which is aligned with international best practice.

The IMO have recommended the agreement to their members (Public Health Specialists and Trainees) and it is expected to go to ballot shortly.

Each specialist working on the frontline of our response deserves huge credit for what they have done. The pandemic has had very significant implications for how public health medicine is organised and managed and our public health specialists have responded to every request made of them.

A considerable amount of work has been completed in the design of the new model and we are excited to continue to work with our public health physicians to now implement the new model.