Mr. Shane Conneely:

It is not a preferred option. It is a necessary option. There has been huge growth in our labour force. People are very active in our labour force. More people are working now than ever before in Ireland. It is not as if there is a huge pool of untapped talent out there, with the exception of certain limited areas. The reason our hospitals are recruiting people from south east Asia is that the talent is not available here. Very often we have to consider what the workforce conditions are like in certain sectors. There is a large role for the State to play in areas like healthcare, etc., where there are huge constrictions on staffing.