Mr. Tony O'Brien:

I wish to give some degree of reassurance on the national cancer control programme. The previous cancer strategy was published in June 2006 and the programme was up and running in September or October of the following year. We are following a broadly similar trajectory. As the Minister stated, it is a successful template and we are putting in place exactly the same building blocks. I do not have any fear that this will be one of those documents that does not get implemented. I was heavily involved in the cancer strategy and we are definitely following the same trajectory and will get the same benefits. There is a slightly different context, however, and some of the questions that Senator Colm Burke asked earlier highlight some of the particular challenges in the area, particularly those around workforce planning.

Ms Mannion may wish to comment further on workforce planning, but the reality is that Irish graduates, be they medical or nursing graduates or graduates of allied health professions, are increasingly attractive as poaching targets around the world. This is not new, but its incidence seems to be increasing, particularly in the English-speaking world. We are operating in a much more competitive environment than ever before, which is showing in some of the competitions that were referenced. We would want to have the greatest field of competition for every post that we advertise so that we can continue to appoint the very best that we can.