Roisin Shortall

And it wouldn't be tolerated in other countries in Europe.

Well, look, I mean, this isn't something that was introduced overnight.

There were discussions on this over a number of years.

And as I've said already, both of the representative organisations, the IHCA and the IMO, signed off on this.

And consultants voted with their feet.

70% of consultants opted for it.

There were long discussions.

You know, Stephen Dunley was involved in the early stages.

And also, last year, the current minister was aware that there were issues there and said that, you know, they had to be dealt with.

So if people sign up to a contract, I think it's reasonable to expect that they adhere to that contract.

Look, the history of the Irish Health Service has always been that...

The medics in particular and consultants have refused to go along with reform in the health service.

I think there's an element of that.

They're representative bodies and I'm not talking about all consultants.

And as I've already said, the vast majority of consultants have signed up to this and want to be involved in a properly functioning health service that has a really good public element to it.

And that's the big challenge for the Minister.

I mean, I think Minister Carol McNeill handled this well because, you know, she stood by the agreement that had been reached and

And she then insisted on that being implemented.

And I think that's absolutely fair of her.

And she was backed in the main by, you know, most political parties on this and all of her government colleagues.