asked the Minister for Health if he will take steps to rectify the present unequal distribution of non-consultant hospital doctors between Dublin and the rest of the country.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Distribution of Doctors.
54.
The number of non-consultant hospital doctors throughout the country would appear to indicate that there are disparities in the distribution of medical manpower between Dublin and the rest of the country. However, when the percentage of the population in each health board area is compared with the percentages of non-consultant hospital doctors in these areas, the results show a fairly even distribution of doctors.
Data on the distribution of medical manpower must also take account of the location of medical schools which tend to have a higher number of doctors than other areas, usage of acute hospitals facilities, concentration of high technology and higher specialist activities in the major teaching hospitals and in the major urban areas.
May I ask the Minister——
That concludes Question Time.
Am I not entitled to a supplementary question? We wasted about 15 minutes while the Minister was fiddling through his documents trying to find the answers and now we cannot get a chance to ask a supplementary question.
The Deputy should not get angry or lose his temper with the Chair. It is now 3.45 p.m. and Standing Orders direct me——
With all due respect to the Chair, we wasted more than ten minutes while the Minister was foostering looking for answers to various questions and now we will not get an opportunity to put a supplementary question.
I am sorry, there is nothing I can do about it. Deputy De Rossa and Deputy Woods have been given permission to put a Private Notice Question to the Minister for Justice. I take it that both questions will be taken together.