Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My apologies for ducking in because I have to duck out again to sit in another Chair. This comment is not apropos of anything that has taken place at this meeting but the issue was brought to my attention recently. We spend a lot of time talking about retention of staff in various places. We spend a lot of time retaining staff in the health services and the teaching services. In almost every service we supply nowadays, we are having difficulty retaining people. Someone said to me he could get a job in any of the places people are emigrating to and would pay half the tax he is paying now. Is there a need to look into what is happening there? People are going away on a very serious basis when there is no need for them to go and there are lots of opportunities at home. It is not good for the country to be haemorrhaging people like that. Is there any evidence to suggest that it is a major issue? How can we deal with it, if we can at all? It may not be appropriate for this committee but it is something we need to keep an eye on in this context.