Senior registrar post still vacant after two years – Smyth

• Delays in recruiting additional staff completely unacceptable, says TD

The Health Minister and HSE have come under fire for failing to replace the senior registrar in Cavan General Office. The post has been vacant for two years and, according to Fianna Fáil TD Niamh Smyth, has resulted in major backlogs in the service.
Deputy Smyth said: “I first raised this issue back in 2017 when my office was contacted by a number of people expressing concern about delays in the registration service. Parents are queuing for hours on end to register births, and even then the backlog is resulting in delays in the issuing of birth certs, which in turn is having implications on parents who need the document to qualify for child benefit and other supports.
“It’s been 17 months since the HSE gave approval for the role to be filled, but the vacancy still remains. The latest correspondence from the HSE states that it’s “in the process of advertising staff to cover” the vacancies in Cavan.  It goes on to say that “Local HR in the area are running a local competition to put a staff member in post by the end of January 2019”.

The Cavan-Monaghan TD said that allowing the issue to continue is "completely unacceptable and has led to inexcusable stress and anxiety for parents”.

“I will be continuing to liaise with the HSE on this matter to ensure that this position is filled without delay."