Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

One of my favourite topics is student nurses. I am sure the witnesses have seen the figures published recently about the number of student nurses who are planning to emigrate. I have asked this before in this forum. There are plans in Sláintecare for numbers of nurses to be brought in and how many are needed to increase capacity in the system in various different areas. Are there any concerns, have plans be recalibrated or have any conversations taken place about the fact there seems to be more student nurses leaving? There has always been a high rate. We have always known that. It seems to me this rate is getting very high. I worked around the higher education sector for a long time. We have always seen large numbers of student nurses going away for a variety of reasons and we hope they come back. However, from my engagement with the sector, there seems to be a particularly strong willingness or want among a large cohort that is planning to leave. Are conversations happening about the impact that will have on the plans for recruitment and retention of nurses? Has that report resulted in any conversations about what we need to do to look at it?