At yesterday's health committee we learned something very concerning. Consultants on public-only contracts are continuing to do private work in the Rotunda Hospital. This is despite the fact that treating private patients in public hospitals is a breach of their contracts. It is worth mentioning that these consultants are very well paid for giving up private work, with salaries of up to €260,000, and that is just the basic pay.

This is not just about a breach of contract. It is completely at odds with our national healthcare policy, Sláintecare, which is about creating universal healthcare based on need and not ability to pay and removing private healthcare from public hospitals. How can we ever have a well-functioning and quality public health service if private practice continues to leech resources from the system? Yesterday, we learned that the Minister for Health was told about this a year ago and she said she was not happy about it, but that appears to be it. No sanctions and no actions have been taken against the hospital. In how many other public hospitals is this happening and what is the Tánaiste going to do about it?

I thank Deputy Rice for raising this. The Minister for Health and the wider Government expect the agreed terms of any contract to be applied fully and consistently across all hospitals. We expect everybody to comply with the terms of their contract of employment. That is a general basic thing, and just because somebody is a higher paid member of the public service does not mean they can deviate from their contract. If people have issues with their contract, that is a different matter, but actually signing up to a contract and then not adhering to its terms is not a small matter.

The Department of Health wrote to the HSE CEO on 18 March setting out concerns regarding the continuation of private practice and seeking full compliance with public-only consultant contracts, but I will ask the Minister to come back to Deputy Rice specifically in relation to her view on the implementation of the contract and how many other hospitals may have similar issues.