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Joan Burton Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland
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Department's top doctor isn't retiring... because they can't find anyone good enough to replace him

Dr. Clement Leech should have retired in 2012. Interviews for a replacement were held last year but no candidates were deemed suitable.

THE CHIEF MEDICAL Advisor at the Department of Social Protection is to continue to stay on in his role on a temporary contract, even though he was due to retire almost two years ago.

Minister Joan Burton confirmed her Department held a competition to replace Dr. Clement Leech late last year, but that no candidates were deemed suitable.

Dr Leech, a graduate of UCD and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, has held the position since January 2007.

Burton confirmed in an answer to a parliamentary question that he was due to retire in February 2012, but was kept on on a temporary contract.

One of the Department’s medical assessors was also retained beyond his normal retirement age on a short-term contract, which ended in 2012, while an acting Deputy Chief Medical Advisor was also kept on on similar terms.

According to Burton, the decision to re-employ the staff members was taken “due to their specific skills, the difficulty and long lead-in time for replacing such skills, and the critical importance of ensuring continuity and a high level of service to customers”.

In addition to the chief and deputy chief medical advisors, the Department also employs a team of medical staff to give assessments of clients’ eligibility for various  illness and disability-related benefits and allowances.

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