Vol. 437 No. 4
34 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the reason this country sought the exclusion of junior hospital doctors from the recent EC directive limiting working time to 48 hours per week; his views on whether the current 65 hour limit for junior hospital doctors is adequate having regard to the need to ensure safe delivery of patient care; the discussions, if any, he has had, or plans to have, with the IMO on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ireland, along with the United Kingdom, sought to have Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors (NCHDs) excluded from the terms of the Directive on the organisation of working time because we believed that the provisions of the Directive were incompatible with the service and training requirements of Irish hospitals. The Deputy may also be aware that a major improvement in the working hours of Irish NCHDs was achieved in 1989 with the introduction of a 65 hour week. To achieve this objective, in excess of 200 additional NCHD posts were created at an annual cost in excess of £3.5 million. A very thorough exercise was undertaken to draw up rosters based on a 65 hour week.
