Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As he said, the focus right now is on getting these consultants in place. I fully accept that. Letterkenny has approved two full-time posts, with 100% commitment at the hospital and, as the Deputy said, there is also a third post. The focus is on these endocrinology posts. There was very effective intervention by central HSE for recruiting more consultants for Letterkenny, on the back of the visit I had there some time ago. I will engage again with central HSE and the HR team to see what else we can do.

We have the new consultant contract in place. The Deputy aware of the discussions between the NHS and the HSE and the fact that we are paying twice what NHS consultants are getting. It is a very attractive contract for international recruitment. I will ask the HSE to engage specifically with Letterkenny, as it has done on other specialties. We need to get these three endocrinologists in place. As he pointed out, and as the community knows, it is the hiring of these endocrinologists and support staff that will get the diabetes services the people of Donegal need and deserve.

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