Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have a question on staff retention, which is one of the most important issues the health service faces. One statistic shows that in the past three years, there has been a 44% increase in the number of doctors leaving the State after graduating. It is very concerning that graduate doctors are leaving the State. People leave the State after graduating for all sorts of reasons but among the reasons they leave are pay and conditions. We do not want graduates believing they cannot go back into the Irish health service, even though they want to do so. They feel they will get burnt out, which is very concerning. How can the Minister address that leakage? He cannot address it fully because there are multiple reasons that this happens.

How can we prevent Irish graduate doctors who have been educated to a very high standard in this country from leaving the State?