Vol. 524 No. 5
262 Mr. Noonan asked the Minister for Health and Children the estimated annual cost of employing an additional medical consultant together with nursing and ancillary staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23304/00]
The annual cost of employing an additional medical consultant or any consultant, is not standardised as it is dependent on various factors including the number of sessions sanctioned; the number of support staff required; the type of support staff, whether medical, nursing or ancillary; the specialty involved, the agreed level of services being provided by the particular hospital and the type of hospital involved. The numbers of support staff required would be dependent on whether they have to be newly recruited – for new developments – or shared with existing services.
