Vol. 490 No. 5
196 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on whether a major medical manpower crisis threatens the effectiveness of the Irish health services in its acute hospitals; and the action, if any, he intends, to take in relation to this. [10633/98]
I do not agree with the Deputy that a major medical manpower crisis threatens the effectiveness of our public health service's acute hospitals. However, there is a need to address a number of medical manpower issues including those raised by the collaborative study group on medical manpower in acute hospitals, comprising representatives of the Department of Health, Comhairle na nOspidéal and the Postgraduate Medical and Dental Board which produced a discussion document on medical manpower in acute hospitals in March 1993 and which were considered by a consultative conference in March 1996.
My Department has been engaged in a process of consultation with the training and registration bodies in the context of developing a strategy to gain support for an agreed way forward on these issues.
