Only one additional consultant in accident and emergency medicine has been appointed to public hospitals since 2003, according to new Health Service Executive (HSE) figures.
The figures, which were released to Labour Party health spokeswoman Liz McManus reveal that while 52 additional consultant positions have been established since the start of the year, none of these has been earmarked for A&E departments.
The figures, which were released in reply to a parliamentary question, show that no new A&E posts were established in 2005 and just one the previous year.
Ms McManus said yesterday that Minister for Health Mary Harney had made a "big deal" out of declaring a national state of emergency in the Republic's A&E service.
"If she thinks that she can fight a national healthcare emergency without appointing doctors, she is clearly even more deluded than we thought she was," said Ms McManus.
She said that report after report had shown there were simply not enough A&E consultants in hospitals and she maintained that, according to some suggestions, the numbers needed to be doubled.
"Labour, in government, will prioritise the delivery of an effective, well-resourced healthcare system. If that means appointing more consultants for our A&E service, that's precisely what we will do," she said.
In a statement, the HSE said that the number of A&E consultants had been increased by 148 per cent between 2001 and 2005 after recommendations from the former Comhairle na nOspidéal.
It said that currently there were 52 A&E consultant posts in public hospitals and that it was planned to increase this number to 74 once a new contract with hospital consultants had been agreed.
"The issues that present in A&E departments are not problems of A&E alone. Therefore, simply creating additional A&E consultants will not improve these issues. A whole-hospital approach has to be taken.
"For example, it should be noted that in A&E departments in hospitals such as St James's and Limerick Regional, fast-track assessments involve consultant physicians and consultant surgeons from outside the A&E department."
