Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 December 2020
563. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if consideration will be given to awarding a consultant contract to existing specialists in public health medicine as per the recommendations of the Crowe Horwath report, the Scally report and the report of the Covid-19 nursing homes expert panel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44305/20]
View answerI am fully committed to delivering on the recommendations that were made for public health in the Crowe Horwath report. That report recognised the very important role that public health medicine plays in the health of our population and in how our health service is managed and delivered.
This Government and I have been very clear in our support for the creation of Consultant posts in Public Health Medicine. My Department, in conjunction with the HSE, have completed a substantial amount of work on a detailed framework for the future public health model that includes consultant level roles. A related business case seeking consultant status has been submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for consideration and officials in both Departments are currently engaging in order to progress this as soon as possible.
This government is committed to investment in our public health workforce. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 254 people working full-time across Ireland’s public health workforce. At the end of September, I announced ambitious plans to double this workforce by hiring more public health doctors, nurses, scientists and support staff. Recruitment for these positions commenced immediately and is progressing well.
The HSE’s Pandemic Workforce Plan also includes the recruitment of 400 temporary staff to Public Health Departments across the country in order to strengthen our response to the current pandemic.
The permanent resourcing committed in the workforce plan is an investment in the future service delivery model for Public Health, as envisaged in the 2018 Crowe Horwath Report.
