Mr. Liam Doran:

He might but the regulations would come into play. We genuinely suggest that we must engage with the committee and other stakeholders. Some type of uniformity must be achieved in respect of the skill mix and grade mix issues and also the nurse-patient ratio in order that there might be a bottom line. There must be a spectrum whereby patients can expect from nurses the same standard of care, and broadly the same conditions, whether they are in hospital in Dundalk, Sligo, Wexford or wherever. At present, we do not have this. We need those ratios and the relevant discussion in respect of them must take place. This committee is in a powerful position in the context of stimulating that discussion. We understand that we must engage in it. Others will also have an interest in it. We have arrived at the conclusion that without the ratios I referred to, we will never have a standard safe environment right across the spectrum of ordinary specialties. I do not refer here to high-end specialties, I am referring to ordinary surgical or medical wards, care-of-the-elderly facilities, etc. The latter are the settings in which the majority of care is delivered and in which that care is being most compromised at present.