Mr. Kevin Duffy:

The Deputy has made a number of very important points and we have addressed some of them in our report. I ask the committee to look at our report and see the emphasis we have placed on a number of issues. The reality is we are confronted with an absence of reliable data on what vacancies there are and where they are. This is a problem. We have suggested a solution, which is that we need adequate workforce planning. This is not there at present. These factors are of huge importance and are central to the recommendations we have made. At present, there is very little in the way of planning to deal with an expansion in the demand for services, to deal with retirements or to deal with the fact, which has always been a reality, that a certain number of people recruited will leave. Depending on how we count the figures, and whether people retiring are counted as people leaving, between 5% and 7% will leave. Some people will say this is not huge in terms of the overall numbers, and certainly it would not be regarded as huge compared with what we see in private sector employment, but it represents a significant loss to the health services and to the investment made from public funds in training these people. The more we can reduce this number the better. We have suggested certain incentives in the nature of allowances and increased opportunities for promotion as a way of encouraging people to stay who might otherwise leave for a variety of reasons.