Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Jul 2023

Vol. 1041 No. 4

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

Deputy Pearse Doherty

In áit a bheith trédhearcach faoin eolas atá ag RTÉ faoin scannal íocaíochta, tá sé soiléir go bhfuil RTÉ ag tabhairt an eolais dúinn píosa ar phíosa. Ní féidir linn muinín a bheith againn as an eolas a thagann ó mbord feidhmiúcháin agus tá feidhmeannaigh an bhoird ag caitheamh go holc leis an bpobal. Tá a fhios againn nach bhfuil an fhírinne iomlán tagtha chun solais go fóill agus níl muinín mar sin agamsa sa bhord feidhmiúcháin in RTÉ.

It is now three months since RTÉ's executive board was first alerted to the broadcaster's hidden payments to Ryan Tubridy. Here we are, three months on, still in the dark in relation to what has gone on. Rather than having all of the answers, we are facing even more questions than when this scandal started. RTÉ said it would be upfront and transparent with the public and that it would not drip-feed information but that is exactly what it is doing. More and more information is emerging day by day. RTÉ's executives are still giving selective information when it is forced out of them. They are not being upfront about all of the facts. The revelations we are hearing about are damning. We now know there was not one but three barter accounts, despite the fact that the chief financial officer came before committees of the Oireachtas last week and categorically stated last there was only one. Top executives came before Oireachtas committees last week and said they would be upfront and truthful but it now seems their answers have shown contempt for the Oireachtas, the public and the truth.

We cannot trust the information that is coming from the executive board. The information they submitted today to the committee states that the barter accounts "are used by RTÉ solely in the context of its commercial activity of selling advertising airtime". We know that is categorically untrue. We already know that these accounts were used to make hidden payments to Ryan Tubridy.

Public confidence in RTÉ is on the floor. Trust is in tatters. An insider culture has been exposed at the very heart of RTÉ, with one rule for ordinary workers and another rule for those at the top. At a time when journalists on low and middle salaries were trying to negotiate fair pay and conditions and when ordinary households were struggling to pay their annual licence fee during the cost-of-living crisis, the insider culture at the heart of RTÉ led to this sweetheart deal. All too often, this insider culture is how things work in this country for people at the top. We have seen countless examples of this insider culture over the past three years and it has to stop.

RTÉ needs to build trust again with the public and it is clear that these executives are not the team to do it. I do not have confidence in the executive board of RTÉ. Does the Taoiseach have confidence in it? I understand a mechanism was put in place between the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and RTÉ for oversight. There were meant to be monthly meetings between the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform, and RTÉ in respect of finance and accounts. Was that structure put in place? Did those monthly meetings take place? Were both Ministers kept informed? Was the proper information furnished by RTÉ to the Departments?

I have asked the Taoiseach on a number of occasions to appoint an auditor to go into RTÉ, in line with the Broadcasting Act. I said that on a number of occasions last week because I believed we could not trust the information that was coming and time has shown that to be true. I have said we need to appoint somebody to get the full facts and to get to the bottom of it. I welcome the fact that the Government has now accepted my suggestion. When will the auditor be appointed and start the work? When will the public have that information?

As I said, I do not have confidence in the executive board. Does the Taoiseach have confidence in the executive board?

The Taoiseach

Last year in Ireland, we marked 100 years as a democratic and independent state. We are now one of the oldest continuous democracies in the world and our ability to fulfil our destiny as a free and independent country has depended, in part, on freedom of expression, a free media and a strong public service broadcast sector. Public service broadcasting from RTÉ and others has been a foundation stone in our development as a democratic state and free nation. We know that has now been very badly damaged.

Last week's revelations about a barter account used for secret payments has angered the Irish public and alarmed the Government and Members of the Oireachtas. Further revelations about additional barter accounts yesterday is another disquieting development. It is essential that public trust in RTÉ is restored following the revelations of the past few weeks. The Government has agreed to proposals for a root-and-branch examination of RTÉ. We have called repeatedly for RTÉ's board and executives to provide full transparency and, to date, full transparency has been absent. This must change immediately. RTÉ representatives appearing before the Oireachtas media committee today must provide full answers to all questions that are posed. The drip-feed of information to committees and the Government is doing untold damage. I spoke to the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, last night and again this morning, and she is going to meet with the chairperson and the incoming director general again in person tomorrow to impress this upon them.

The Minister has spoken to the chairperson today and has received an outline of the board's position, particularly around the deeply unsatisfactory nature in which information is being provided. The Minister has been informed that the chairperson is now writing to the deputy director general and the incoming director general outlining this totally unacceptable position that has eroded their trust and confidence in the executive. In this context, the board has requested that swift action be taken and the chairperson will speak more on this at the media committee today.

We absolutely understand that the erosion of confidence has done enormous damage and it is imperative that full clarity around these and all issues is forthcoming without further delay. For this reason, the Minister, Deputy Martin, is bringing forward her meeting with the chairperson and the acting director general to tomorrow, as I mentioned earlier, and we intend to have a forensic accountant in place next week, given the urgency of this matter, if that is at all possible. The chairperson has also confirmed that the board is going to initiate a further investigation, led by Grant Thornton, of Toy Show The Musical.

In answer to the Deputy's questions, the forensic accountant will be in place next week. That is the intention. There is a procurement procedure that has to be followed but we are confident that can be done next week. I do not know about the monthly meeting structure but I will come back to the Deputy on that point before the end of the day.

To answer the Deputy's question, I have confidence in the board and the executive board but I am also conscious that this is an emerging situation and I reserve the right to change my position on that based on what happens in the coming days.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

As I ask my next question, perhaps the former Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform might give the Taoiseach a note as to whether the monthly meetings involving his former Department were happening as part of the arrangement between the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform, and RTÉ.

The Taoiseach has confidence in the executive and the executive board. They have come before Oireachtas committees and told lies. They told us there was only one barter account. They either did not know there were three or it was sheer incompetence. They either deliberately misled the committee or simply did not know. How can we have a chief financial officer, and how can we have confidence in a chief financial officer, who does not know the number of accounts under his stewardship? I ask the Taoiseach that question.

I agree completely that we need to build trust in RTÉ. Public broadcasting is absolutely crucial in this State and we need to build that up. The question is whether the executive team we have, which is drip-feeding information and is having to come before Oireachtas committees and correct the information provided in the past, the team that is going to lead us forward.

When the Taoiseach says there will be swift action from the chairperson, what does that mean? Does he believe there will be resignations from the executive as a result of the meetings between the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the chairperson of the board?

The Taoiseach

It is important to point out that there is more than one person on the executive board. In any democracy, in any decent society, as I am sure the Deputy will agree, anyone should be afforded due process. For me now to condemn en masse an entire executive board made up of several different people who had several different roles would not only be unfair but potentially would leave the State open to compensation claims under constructive dismissal. I have to be conscious of looking after taxpayers' money here even if some people in RTÉ did not. I am not at liberty to do what the Deputy has just done, which is to condemn en masse the executive board and every member of it. That would leave the State open up challenge and I do not want to put the State in that position. The solution to not looking after taxpayers' money is not for the Government to do the same. I will not do the same. I have confidence in the executive board but I reserve my position in relation to that and to individual members as the situation develops and as issues arise. What will happen though is the new director general, DG, Mr. Kevin Bakhurst, will take up position quite soon. I am sure that he will want to reconstitute the executive board or perhaps get rid of it altogether.

Deputy Holly Cairns

The question we are all asking is, who knows what is going on in RTÉ, does the Taoiseach know what is going on in RTÉ, and if he does, can he shed some light on it for the rest of us? We are nearly three weeks into this debacle and the national broadcaster still cannot even get its story straight. If RTÉ's screenwriters were writing the script of this as a drama, one could imagine that it might be rejected as being too far-fetched.

Last week, my colleague, Deputy Catherine Murphy, asked RTÉ's chief financial officer a very simple and straightforward question when he appeared before the Committee of Public Accounts, namely, how many barter accounts does RTÉ have. Mr. Collins was adamant that there was just one. We now know that this is not the case. There are three barter accounts.

I do not particularly want to single out one individual here - that is not helpful - but the performance of the executives collectively before the two separate Oireachtas committees last week was appalling. They were not forthright. They were not transparent. Information had to be dragged out of them and we now know that some of that information was not accurate. It is important to remember that this scandal first came to light in early March. They have now had four months to piece together what happened and they are still scrambling around claiming either confusion or ignorance, and I do not think any of us knows which one is worse. Ordinarily, as we all know from being on committees, when people appear before Oireachtas committees, they do their homework, they carefully sift through their files and they get all of their relevant information in order before they appear, and that was clearly not done last week. This failure to get basic information correct raises serious questions about the board as a whole and its capacity to deal with this issue. Realistically, when this whole controversy relates to secret payments made from a barter account, the very least that we could all expect is that they would know how many barter accounts it has.

I have seen the defensive note that RTÉ prepared setting out what a barter account is, what barter accounts do and how much money went through them and I wonder about the patronising tone of that document because none of us has any problem with barter accounts being used if they are standard across the media industry. What we have a major problem with is barter accounts being used as slush funds to secretly top up the station's top earner. We also have a big issue with the apparent complete lack of financial controls or oversight of these accounts and the chief financial officer giving incorrect information about even how many barter accounts there actually are, not to mention crying poor mouth and demanding pay cuts from its lowest-paid most insecure staff, while secretly paying top-ups to its most exorbitantly-paid staff member, as well as things like wasting €2.2 million on a musical flop.

The Taoiseach spoke about individual members but I am asking about the board on the whole. How can the Taoiseach have confidence at this point in the board?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. I know a lot about what happens in RTÉ. Their annual report and accounts are presented to Cabinet and, in addition, I have periodic meetings with senior people in RTÉ. I would meet the DG, maybe once or twice a year.

On the existence of barter accounts, the Deputy is correct that the issue is not the barter accounts per se. Barter accounts, I understand, are used commonly across the media, arts and entertainment sector. The misuse of barter accounts for secret payments is the real issue here. Certainly, I did not become aware of this until the last couple of weeks and only found out last night that there were additional barter accounts. Frankly, I am really bothered about that. The Tánaiste is too. I spoke to him this morning and spoke to the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin.

We are not satisfied at all about the answers that we have been given by RTÉ to date. It is below the standards that one would expect, not only of people working in a public body but, frankly, of anyone working in any body. It is not a satisfactory situation.

There is a difference between giving incorrect information to a committee or to the Dáil, which many of us would have done, and actually lying, and that has to be established. As the Deputy says, the executive board is made up of lots of different individuals. I am not happy, as Taoiseach, to condemn every single member of that board en masse. That would not be the right thing to do. People should be afforded a fair hearing and due process. We should know what all the facts are. That is the basis of my position.

Deputy Holly Cairns

It is important to highlight as well is that at home, from speaking to people at the weekend, everybody is talking about it in their kitchens, in the supermarket and everywhere people go. Two messages really came through to me. The first is the outrage and the confusion at the public service broadcaster. Of all the organisations that know about holding people to account, this kind of drip-feed of information is quite surprising to most people. The other message that echoed was an appreciation for having public service broadcasting and the importance of it, especially today with misinformation online and so on. Crucially, there is also a new realised appreciation for the staff in RTÉ, most of whom are on modest wages and do an incredibly good job. Everybody is hoping for an end to this drip-feed of information.

In her initial statement last week about the scandal, Siún Ní Raghallaigh stated that it represented a serious breach of trust. We can all agree with that. However, that breach of trust has now been compounded because it is ongoing and it is doing immense damage because it is undermining further people's trust in the institution that its dedicated and modestly paid journalists and broadcasting staff worked so hard to build. How can public trust be restored if there is no accountability?

The Taoiseach

Public trust cannot be restored without truth, transparency and accountability. What we need now is an end to the drip-feed of information. We need all the information out there, if not today then certainly in the coming days. With transparency we have truth and then there can be further accountability thereafter. It is essential that we draw a line under this affair as soon as we possibly can because I agree with what the Deputy said around the importance of public service broadcasting, high-quality media, and high-quality production of documentaries, children's programmes, Irish-language programmes etc. They are more important than ever at a time of misinformation, and often malign information, coming from other sources.

This is not only about a State-owned enterprise or a semi-State company that has got into some trouble. It is about defending an important aspect of our democracy, which is media freedom and a good public service broadcaster, and that is the work that Government will be doing in the coming days.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

The situation at RTÉ is an unholy mess and a scandal that has done extraordinary damage to the vital institution of public service broadcasting in this country. It involves secret payments mislabelled as consultancy; an organised deception of the public, the Dáil and the workers in RTÉ; a barter account that looks like a slush fund, and then three barter accounts that may look like slush funds; no accountability about any of this; staggering salaries for a favoured few at the top; a group of people who work week in, week out for RTÉ and look just like employees but are labelled as contractors; and an obnoxious notion of "the talent" for a few at the top suggesting that the vast majority of people who actually make the programmes and make the institution work are not somehow talent.

All of this is an insult to the television licence-paying public, who could go to jail if they do not pay that licence, and to the vast majority of RTÉ workers, including journalists, crew and so on, who make RTÉ function.

It is welcome that Ryan Tubridy and Noel Kelly are coming to the committees. As soon as Dee Forbes and Jim Jennings recover, I hope they will also come in. Siún Ní Raghallaigh, in response to a question I asked last week, acknowledged that there was an organised deception; those were her words. We do not know who organised it, but somebody organised it. Those people need to be held to account. We also need to know whether there is more. Questions have to be asked about contracts for services to RTÉ. Were they tendered out in a transparent way? I have heard, for example, of issues around chauffeur services that were not properly tendered out. I have asked about the independent production fund and whether similar things are going on in film production, where allegations along those lines have been made.

Of course, we need an audit and reviews of the entire matter and the culture and governance of RTÉ. I put it to the Taoiseach, however, that certain things are very clear and evident right now. We need salary caps on these staggering and exorbitant salaries that are aligned with public sector pay scales. We need direct employment of people who are actually employees of RTÉ rather than contractors bargaining for extraordinary salaries. We need a proper funding model for RTÉ that is not contaminated by commercial and advertising imperatives where this rot we have seen over the past number of weeks starts.

The Taoiseach

RTÉ is a public body. It is also a semi-State or State-owned enterprise. A set of salary caps apply in State-owned enterprises and there is a code of practice for commercial semi-States as to how they are supposed to operate. We will have to establish very quickly whether any of the caps that exist were broken and whether the code of practice for commercial semi-States was breached.

The use of contractors and consultants is done in the public, private and semi-State sectors. There are advantages and disadvantages both for the body and the individuals involved. For example, one matter that does not arise if somebody is a contractor or consultant are pension liabilities. We do not have to pay their pensions when they retire. We do not have to pay redundancy, for example.

Deputy Paul Murphy

If they evade the pay caps though-----

The Taoiseach

Many different things need to be taken into account when considering these matters. The cost of pensions for retired public servants is extremely high, if you think about it. They receive half their salary for the rest of their lives. When it comes to saving money and so on, all of that needs to be borne in mind. The same thing goes for redundancy and dismissal. All these things need to be examined.

For exactly that reason, the Government yesterday agreed to proposals to initiate a root-and-branch examination. This will comprise two elements: an independent review to examine the governance structures and organisational culture of RTÉ, overseen by an expert governance advisory committee; and an independent review to examine the mechanisms by which external contractors are engaged, the fees paid and the use of agents and other HR matters in RTÉ, all of which the Deputy mentioned, which will be overseen by an expert advisory committee on contractor fees and HR matters. In addition, the Minister is invoking her powers under the Broadcasting Act to appoint a forensic accountant to examine the accounts of RTÉ. The initial focus of the forensic accountant will be on the barter accounts and any other off-balance sheet accounts. We expect to have that person in place next week.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

There is simply no justification for a small number of people at the top to get salaries that are multiples of what the ordinary journalists, crew and workers in RTÉ get. This notion of "the talent" implied a sort of hierarchy. The truth is, to make a show, it is not just a contractor or highly-paid presenter that is needed. Sound people, researchers, a producer and all sorts of people, who are just as important, are needed for the creation of those shows. There is no justification for these staggering salaries or for people who in actuality are working for RTÉ being treated as if they are contractors bargaining for extortionate salaries. That starts this kind of rot.

I heard the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, say earlier that he does not necessarily think that the impact of advertising and commercial interests on RTÉ is detrimental to the integrity of public service broadcasting. I disagree. At the root of this, is the fact that RTÉ is supposed to be a public service broadcaster but is more interested in commercial revenues. It then thinks it deserves these salaries and gets involved in barter accounts with these commercial and advertising interests.

The Taoiseach

This is an emerging situation and it is evolving. I shared two reflections in Brussels last week that I will share again. There is an issue in respect of the interplay of the executive board and the board. It is an unusual structure for a company or public body. We will have to establish whether that was a significant part of the problem. Things that would have gone to a board in an ordinary organisation did not and were dealt with at executive board level. The other issue is the interplay between commercial and public revenue. The Deputy may well have a good point in that regard. Many of us here are trustees of political parties. We have to keep separate accounts for the money we get from the public and the money we raise from our supporters. We have to make sure that public money is only spent for the purpose for which it was voted by the Oireachtas. In RTÉ, it all seems to go into the one pot. I think that is a problem and may be something that has to change.

The point relating to contractors, for example, is valid. It should be borne in mind that an employee is somebody who is taken on, gets full employment rights and is paid for the rest of their life. They are not just paid while they are an employee but are paid a pension for 20 or 30 years after they retire. That has to be taken into account when we are comparing the cost of something.

Deputy Michael Collins

I will move channel away from RTÉ for the time being to the issue of rural doctors and burnout. Dr. Fiona Kelly is one of the finest rural doctors in this country. She has been practising in the Beara Peninsula since 2009. She is dedicated to her job, is hardworking and almost always contactable outside working hours. She offers same-day appointments for anyone in need and still takes on new patients among those who move to the area because she realises that rural GPs are few and far between. She rarely gets a lunch break and never gets home when she should. Despite all this, she still loves her job.

I will reference social media posts Dr. Kelly put up last Friday while on a short holiday in Italy with her family following a tough year for them. This holiday would not have been possible had it not been for a retired GP contacting Dr. Kelly after hearing her discuss on "Prime Time" in 2021 the dire situation facing rural GPs in Ireland. This lovely and obliging GP who agreed to provide cover realised some weeks ago that her medical insurance and registration would run out at midnight on Thursday. She tried in vain to renew it for one more day, to cover Friday, but she was met with a resounding "No" and was told she would have to renew for a full year, which would cost her several thousand euro.

Dr. Fiona Kelly's frantic search in Italy for a single day's cover began. She directly contacted three other GPs to cover Friday but they are not renewing their registration. It seems to be the norm that older GPs are retiring and there is nobody to take on their practices. Dr. Kelly's practice manager contacted two locum companies and placed an advertisement on a GP forum. She also made several word-of-mouth inquiries but, alas, all their efforts were unsuccessful. The difficult decision was taken to close the practice on Friday. Dr. Kelly assures me, when I talked to her at her clinic in Castletownbere on Monday, that this decision was not taken lightly. She did everything in her power to secure a locum doctor for Friday but such doctors simply do not exist. Dr. Kelly received an email on Friday morning from the HSE primary care unit asking her to explain the closure. Dr. Kelly was in Italy receiving calls every 30 to 60 minutes from her excellent practice manager and front office team who were manning the phones and relaying Dr. Kelly's guidance to the many patients needing care in the absence of a GP.

Dr. Kelly has many solutions to the GP manpower crisis that Ireland is currently experiencing. However, nobody has ever asked the opinions of someone like her, who is in the thick of it. Ironically, it took just 30 minutes for a HSE official to contact Dr. Kelly regarding her closure. These were the same people who could do nothing for her days before.

The bottom line is that general practice is on its knees. The manpower situation has reached a crisis level. GPs are retiring in their droves and they are not being replaced quickly enough. This situation was predicted when Dr. Fiona Kelly was a student and absolutely nothing was done about it. GPs who are still working are facing burnout and nobody cares. Dr. Kelly experienced this at first hand on Friday. Officials are quick to pounce when things do not go smoothly but they have nothing positive to say about her 14 and a half years' service. To say that Dr. Kelly is disappointed is an understatement.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Michael Collins

It is no wonder that newly qualified GPs are emigrating as soon as they qualify. It is no wonder rural areas are suffering. It is no wonder GPs are closing their lists to new patients. What is the Taoiseach's solution to this crisis?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know Deputy Cairns raised it yesterday as well. I do not want to comment directly on Dr. Fiona Kelly or Castletownbere, but I will certainly make sure that somebody, either from my office or that of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, reaches out to her to hear what she has to say.

I do know something about general practice. I am a trained, qualified GP. I worked in the public health service for seven years, including three years in general practice. My dad was a GP. I grew up over the shop. It was a traditional, single-handed general practice. My mum was the practice nurse, manager, accountant and secretary. Patients came to the extension of our house. That is where patients were seen. For a very long time, my dad got up every single night to do house calls. Every single night the phone would go off at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. and he would go out and do house calls. I remember how hard it was, even back then in the 1980s, to get a locum to fill in, for example, for a week’s holiday or even so he could attend my communion and confirmation. It was hard back then and the truth is that general practice has changed.

GPs of my age and younger GPs are not willing to work that way any more and they should not. They want to work in teams where there is cross-cover and where they can be guaranteed things like the holidays and breaks they deserve. That makes it harder, therefore, to maintain single-handed practices, whether this is in urban or rural areas. That is a real issue that we need to be honest about and face up to. Even where locums are available, they tend to want to go into group practices, where there are two or three other doctors who know where things are and how the building works, rather than going in on their own to a single-handed practice where there is nobody to guide them. That is the reality and is something we have to face. It will be very hard to get doctors to work in single-handed situations in the future. That is why it is important and necessary that we move towards primary care centres and group practices, notwithstanding the difficulties that creates when people will have to travel a little further, or a lot further in some cases, to see their GP.

However, some of what the Deputy said is misinformation. We have more GPs in Ireland than ever was the case before. Do not believe me; ask the Irish Medical Council, which is an independent body. It is not elected by or controlled by the Government. It will tell you that we have more doctors who are registered as GPs in Ireland than ever was the case before. The HSE has more contracts with individual GPs than ever was the case before. Yes, we need them, because we have a rising population and an ageing population. We will need more. We have trebled the number of GPs being trained every year to make sure that is the case. However, it is simply misinformation to say the kind of things that the Deputy said there-----

Deputy Michael Collins

It is not.

The Taoiseach

-----which creates the impression that the number of GPs is going down. It is not. Is going up, and it has never been higher.

Deputy Michael Collins

Maybe if the Taoiseach had listened to my speech, he would know that they were extracts from Dr. Fiona Kelly’s social media. That is what I read out. It did not come from me. I say that to start with.

Second, where are the GPs the Taoiseach is talking about? Obviously, the Taoiseach says that there might be more GPs, but we have a bigger population, too. That has to be taken into account. His answers today have given me no confidence whatsoever, which every rural doctor and the people of Castletownbere would have wanted. It is similar to the same old spin.

I have spoken to rural doctors and they have solutions. First, on keeping doctors with General Medical Services, GMS, contracts that state GPs have a 24-7 commitment to their patients, younger doctors are not willing to accept this commitment and responsibility. The contract needs to change. Second, the HSE must accept some responsibility for helping to secure locum cover for sick leave, annual leave and maternity leave. Third, GPs should have protected time off for annual leave, sick leave and maternity leave. Otherwise, burnout is inevitable among existing GPs. Fourth, we should cut the red tape and register doctor applicants from outside the EU in no more than one month. Up to now, the process the Taoiseach endorsed so much is a failure because it takes seven to 12 months to register. Fifth, we must allow some older GPs who do not want to retire fully and who want to cover a session or two a week to pay a very reduced rate of insurance registration.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Michael Collins

If this were the case, the Castletownbere clinic would not have been forced to close last Friday. These are just a few solutions to a huge crisis. Will the Taoiseach work with the likes of Dr. Fiona Kelly throughout the country, or will he let such doctors burn out and close their doors?

The Taoiseach

We are working with doctors to deal with some of those issues. For example, just on 3 April, we published the terms of reference for a strategic review of general practice. That is the HSE and all stakeholders, including the Irish College of General Practitioners, ICGP, and the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, working together to deal with some of the issues the Deputy mentioned. Yet, some of the issues are not as straightforward as the Deputy might make out. We have had some difficult experiences with registering foreign doctors in Ireland. You are asking for trouble by just saying that we should register somebody in a month, quite frankly. There are a few things we need to be very careful about. If we register somebody in a month, fast-track them or do it quickly and if they turn out not to be qualified or not to be the person they claim they are, the consequences will be catastrophic for patients. Therefore, the Deputy needs to think through some of the suggestions he is making.

In terms of what we are doing, we have increased the rural practice allowance by 10%. In the agreement we just made with GPs the other day in relation to the extension of the GP visit cards, we have made improvements to maternity and paternity leave arrangements. Under the 2019 agreement, an additional €210 million is allocated to general practice, which is a 40% increase.