Last week I visited Sligo University Hospital. While there, the manager told me about the recruitment of senior staff. It is an issue all over the country. It can take up to nine months for public hospitals because of the recruitment process and the various stages they have to go through with the HSE, whereas a voluntary hospital can carry out exactly the same recruitment of a senior consultant in nine weeks. There is a serious problem here. I was told of a case where a similar post was advertised by a public hospital and by a voluntary hospital. The voluntary hospital had the staff member in place in just over two months, whereas the public hospital took almost a year to do the same. The problem was not that the staff were not available, it was the process and the length of time it takes. Can the Minister for Health look at that and come up with a solution, so that when we have staff shortages in our hospitals we can actually fill them quickly?

I thank Deputy Martin Kenny. I will indeed take a look at it. The HSE is already looking at how it can streamline its recruitment process. It is worth saying, however, that despite the recruitment challenges, we have more doctors and nurses working in the health services this year than last year and had more last year than the year before. We are always looking at ways to further streamline the process.