James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We need to explore this further. There needs to be proper analysis done on why young graduates often feel that they need to leave the country. We are seeing in places like Canada and Australia that opportunities are being presented to young graduates who have studied here. The State has gone through the enormous cost of supporting their education and higher education. There is no disputing that. However, I feel we need to look at this.

Like many public representatives and indeed the public, I question the overall strength of the public healthcare system in this country, considering the level of investment and the billions upon billions of capital going into this area. I would like to see the Department undertake a body of work that involves a deep-rooted analysis of why this happening. It should get into the universities and talk to people who are nearing the completion of their higher education before they start work in our hospitals and the healthcare system. I feel there is a necessity to do that.

We have seen throughout the pandemic that so much strain has been put on the health system in general. ICU capacity has been increased from 200 to 300 beds. We want that figure to increase further to give us scope to prevent us going back into lockdown situations and scenarios with new challenges that may arise as a result of the pandemic. An enormous level of urgency is needed in this area. Could the Department look at this?