Ms Angela Fitzgerald:

The exercise undertaken by the INMO and in the Birthrate Plus report was endorsed by Mr. Liam Doran of the INMO before the information was released. It was set to make sure we would have a ratio of one in 29 at the very minimum. Some units were already operating at or above that level, while some were well below it. With the moneys we had received in 2016, the priority was to bring the numbers in the sites operating at below the required ratio up to it. The report we have shows that 88 of the 100 posts have been filled. The wider issue is the ability to retain, which is a challenge. If we put the matter in context and move away from midwifery-----