Bernard Allen
Ceist:307 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children his proposals to increase the percentage of female consultants here in line with the percentage of doctors. [11225/02]
Written Answers. - Consultant Appointments.
The Health Service is an equal opportunities employer. Therefore all new consultant posts are filled by candidates with the appropriate qualifications and experience for the post. At 1 January 2002, the percentage of permanent consultant posts held by women was 23%.
The number of women being appointed to new consultant posts continues to rise. In the ten year period from 1991 to 2001, the percentage of women taking up new consultant posts has risen from 18% of all new consultants in 1991, to 41% of all new consultants in 2001.
As the Deputy will be aware, I established the National Task Force on Medical Staffing in February. The task force is engaged in drawing up a detailed implementation plan based on the recommendations in the report of the medical manpower forum and the report of the joint steering group on the working hours of non-consultant hospital doctors. Those recommendations include proposals for identifying impediments to the advancement of women within our existing acute hospital system and training structures, and devising appropriate measures to overcome such barriers. The proposals in both reports for more flexible working and training are likely to be particularly relevant in this context.
I am confident that the work of the task force will result in the implementation of a range of practical measures to make it more attractive for women to train and work as consultants in our hospital system and thereby make a significant contribution to the process of bringing overall consultant numbers more closely into line with the gender balance among doctors in training.