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.

Read Here’s why this former US presidential candidate is in Dublin this week

Read 5 stories that tell us what type of taoiseach Albert Reynolds was