I return to my point about taking work out of hospitals. On the growth in staff numbers in the HSE, there was 17% growth in the numbers involved in administration. There was 3.7% growth in the number of public health nurses. If one wants to take patients out of hospitals, one has to grow the number providing public healthcare services. That is the very area where the number of staff has not grown in the past four years.

I have a question which I believed had been received by the clerk to the committee. I wanted to receive up-to-date figures for all staff numbers in the HSE on 30 April. I will submit the question and will be looking for an answer to it. There was much talk about the embargo and the recruitment of staff, but very little information was given on the real growth in numbers in the past four years. I am concerned about disproportionate growth in some areas and, in particular, how the number of public health nurse numbers has not increased. Why has this not occurred if we want to keep patients out of hospitals?