Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Doran and Ms O'Brien. For newly-qualified nurses and people who want to train, the UK seems to be a great lure as many of our nurses go there. Mr. Doran has described the aggressive recruitment drives that go on while by the same token, we need more nurses here. Mr. Doran is regularly on the radio speaking about that issue. Might the Brexit dynamic give newly-qualified nurses who are considering leaving here pause for thought and make them consider staying in this country? We can look at it in terms of both a hard and soft Brexit. Could there be a new dynamic whereby we would see more graduates staying?

What is the appeal of the UK at the moment and what is actually on offer to newly-qualified nurses there compared with here? How do the salaries compare? From speaking to some young nurses, it seems the conditions of work and the chances of progression in their careers might be key. Can the witnesses give us a flavour of that? We are told the HSE is recruiting here but it seems difficult to fill a number of these types of posts. I would welcome Mr. Doran's comments on that issue.

On the issue of training and education, in the past number of years it has struck me there is a cohort that has difficulty in getting into the labour force. One might be talking about people in their 50s up to retirement age who have perhaps lost a job. That particularly arose during the downturn and the mass of unemployment that was created from that. These people find it hard to get work and upskilling or reskilling is an obvious way to change that. Women who took career breaks to look after their children find that because they are not entitled to a social welfare payment, they do not qualify for particular courses that might help them find work. While there may be an abundance of options in Dublin to upskill and reskill, where I am from much of the upskilling and reskilling on a basic level is being delivered by the Department of Social Protection. I understand it is means tested and that it applies only to people on social welfare, but there are people in difficult situations who want to work and contribute but cannot get work or upskill. They feel forgotten about. It might be a woman who raised her children or a man who had worked the best part of his life in a now obsolete profession and who is not wanted anywhere. It is quite a wallop to a person when this happens, especially when there is no alternative offered by the State. I am not talking about people who are massively wealthy and for whom this is not an issue. I refer to those who are pretty much getting by and just do not meet the technicality of qualifying. I would appreciate Ms O'Brien's comments on that issue.