Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-06-18 ============================================================ Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. At the outset, I agree with him on the importance of the public-only consultant contract. It is something that arose from one of the better days or better periods of time in this House where the Government and Opposition worked together on a vision for the future of the health service called Sláintecare. I was the Minister at the time. The Deputy's former party leader, Róisín Shortall, chaired that committee. It has produced a good blueprint that we are all working our way through. It has taken some of the day-to-day politics in terms of policy direction out of health. That is a good thing. I want everybody who works in our health service, no matter what role they play, to understand that this Oireachtas speaks with one very clear voice when it comes to public health policy and we all expect it to be followed. I also agree with the Deputy that there has been progress. We see the benefits of the public-only consultant contract. I will not go through them all, but as an example, St. Vincent's University Hospital has brought about a Saturday hub with participation by 40 consultants. In Wexford General Hospital, we now have weekend consultant cover in emergency medicine, surgery, paediatrics and gynae services. In University Hospital Waterford, we have seen a minimum of 26 consultants rostered at the weekend with outpatient diagnostics running until 8 p.m. during the week and on certain weekends. I use these as examples of where when this is applied correctly, we can see the real benefit in terms of public healthcare. In relation to some of what has emerged, I acknowledge the Deputy and Deputy Rice's work on this. The idea of anybody being given a gift or paid to do a nixer effectively is not in line with the contract. It is not an improved HSE arrangement. It is not something that the Department of Health, the Minister for Health, the HSE or the Government would condone. Measures are now being taken to ensure that this practice ceases with immediate effect. My understanding is that the HSE chief executive is currently engaging with all the regional health areas and the regional clinical directors in relation to this practice. I wish to make a couple of other points because people - certainly not the Deputy; quite the opposite to him - sometimes try to muddy the waters in relation to this. As would be the case in all specialties, the maternity consultant on duty in any hospital is responsible for the care of all patients requiring attention regardless of whether they are private or public. This idea that if a consultant is on call, they have to be given some sort of gift or payment is not how it works. Doctors know that, too. Cross-cover between consultants is routine. It is an expected part of how our public health services are delivered, ensuring continuity of care. Any suggestion of private financial arrangements in this context is inconsistent with contractual obligations, raises concerns and risks diverting time and resources away from treating public patients. We have seen no tolerance from the Minister for people who sign on the dotted of a contract and do not adhere by it. The Deputy can be sure that the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is working intensely on ensuring the full implementation. Speaking as the Minister of Finance, and lest anyone be of any other view, I wish to say that any income, be it direct or indirect, gained from employment is taxable. Revenue has standard audit compliance procedures that it operates across all sectors. Whether it is payment in the traditional way, a gift or a nixer, please be aware of the taxable obligations on any income derived through that. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:51+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-18