Roisin Shortall

But if you're signed up for public work in a public hospital, well, then that's what you do.

And they're very well remunerated for that.

Well, it wasn't closed off.

It still remains an option.

And that's the very important thing.

With people who are on the old contract.

Yes, people who are on the old

But in time, it'll be closed off.

But over a long period of time, and that was the whole approach with Sláinte Care.

This wasn't a big bang thing.

There was a recognition that, you know, there are different models within the health, Irish Health Service, very different to most other European countries.

But we recognised that they were there and we took the approach of phasing things out rather than, you know, changing things overnight.

So what we've seen in the Rotunda, for example, and I think the same applies in other maternity hospitals, is that the majority of consultants didn't sign up to the public-only contract.

So they can continue to do their mix of public and private work.

And, you know, I know the master of the Rotunda made some comment about this would be phased out in a couple of years.

That's not the case.

If you look at the consultants who are there on the old contract contract,

in the Rotunda.

They're, you know, people in their 30s and 40s and they'll be there for as long as they choose to be there.

And, I mean, there was also an argument made by some women that, you know, they had had consultants be for their previous births and they wanted to continue with that person and they couldn't now because that person had gone on to the public-only contract.