The board of the Rotunda has now said it will abide by national healthcare policy and ensure that consultants on public-only contracts are not breaching them by treating private patients. How confident is the Taoiseach that he can rely on what the board says? At the weekend, the Irish Independent revealed more concerning details of practices at the hospital. Consultants on public-only contracts who deliver babies for private patients at the weekend are routinely gifted with sums of up to €1,500 by consultants contracted to do that private work. The hospital is aware of this and described it as a long-standing practice. The hospital also says that the payment of these gifts is, “personal to the consultants and the hospital is not involved”. Given that women are giving birth in the Rotunda and are treated by consultants employed by the Rotunda, this is clearly nonsense. The hospital is very much involved. It just does not want to act. Whistleblowers have informed my colleague, Deputy Pádraig Rice, that the payment of these gifts is not confined to the Rotunda. It is happening at Cork University Maternity Hospital, CUMH, too. It takes place at weekends because of the way the Rotunda and CUMH are operating their rosters. They each have just one roster while other hospitals are operating two, one for public patients and one for private patients. Whistleblowers have also come forward to Deputy Rice about issues at University Hospital Galway. The hospital has a deal in place to do laboratory work for a private hospital and consultants on public-only contracts are being asked by management at the hospital to do laboratory work for private patients. While many consultants on public-only contracts are refusing to do this, it is nonetheless leading to big delays in the processing of samples for public patients. This includes public patients with cancer. As the Taoiseach knows, an early cancer diagnosis can save a life while a delayed diagnosis can be fatal. Delays are so bad at the hospital that it is outsourcing some laboratory work for both public and private patients to commercially run labs. This is at an enormous expense to the public purse. Was the Taoiseach aware that some consultants in the Rotunda were receiving gifts of up to €1,500 to deliver a baby? Did he know that this was also happening in Cork University Maternity Hospital? Has Revenue started an investigation into these gifts, given that no tax is being paid? Is the Taoiseach concerned that this could give rise to a level of fraud if insurers are being billed for work consultants have not done? Was he aware of the issues at University Hospital Galway? Is he concerned that public patients are receiving-----
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-----delayed diagnoses for life-threatening conditions? What actions will the Taoiseach take to address this?
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Clearly, this is an issue beyond the Rotunda. There are instances in Cork and Galway. There is an emerging pattern around the country of breaches of the public-only contract. The Taoiseach and the Government have a responsibility to patients and to the taxpayer to ensure that the contract is being implemented. He is clearly not aware of the different breaches around the country. The Taoiseach, the Government and the Minister for Health need to get a grip on this. They need to get ahead on this. They need to take actions to ensure that the public-only contract is actually being implemented and enforced. What are the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health and the Government doing to ensure that the public-only contract is being adhered to? Is he going to get a grip or a handle on this? When are we going to see results in terms of ensuring that the public-only contracts are actually implemented?
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The Taoiseach needs to be transparent about what he is doing to address this.
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What are you doing?
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