Mr. Jim Breslin:

In the case of nursing, the HSE has put in place an arrangement whereby it offers to everyone who is graduating from the degree programme a placement or job. The latest information is that more people are taking that up. There was a time during the crisis when jobs could not be offered and people went abroad. Now what happens is that people take the job and do it for several years. However, they would still like to see a country and experience travel and so they go abroad. At the Joint Committee on Health yesterday, Ms Collette Cowan, who is the chief executive officer of the University of Limerick hospital group, explained the approach. She said the important thing is that when the hospital staff get someone in from college, they get the graduate accustomed to the work. Then they get the recruit to make a connection with the hospital. Crucially, they offer a career break. If they do not make a career break available then, when the recruit goes it is a break and she does not come back. We will always see people leaving. The important thing is that when they have experience, they come home to give us the benefit of it.