Varadkar commits to give consultants 'pay equality' if they commit to working only in public care

The move forms part of the government's ambition to decouple private and public care, a move the Irish Hospital Consultants Association has warned could see an exodus of doctors as well as a possible loss of €800m for the Exchequer.

Furthermore, it is estimated that a limited number, possibly as little as 6% of consultants, currently have a contract solely for public care.

Mr Varadkar said he and Health Minister Simon Harris are willing to make the type A contract offer to consultants and that this was "the first step" to separating out the two systems of care.

“I hope they are for it,” he told the chamber.

The comments came during a debate about treatment waiting lists for children.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin highlighted how some 214,000 children are now waiting for treatment and procedures and therapies.

This includes 117,000 for hospital treatment and 19,000 for primary care. More than a quarter of these children were waiting in excess of a year for care, he told the Dáil.

He highlighted long waiting lists for speech and language therapy, for ear, nose and throat care, for dermatology as well as unfilled posts for radiography.

However, Mr Varadkar responded by saying that waiting lists for outpatient appointments have fallen for several months in a row.

Furthermore, outpatient appointments have been reduced by a third in more than two years to 38,000. General paediatric care waits are also down by a third, while delays for child and adolescent mental health services have reduced.

Mr Varadkar argued that it had taken “years to reverse the damage done” to health services.