Ms Ginny Hanrahan:

There is no doubt we have had more applicants. There has been a 100% increase in applicants this year and there were 900 international applicants. This relates to anybody who has trained outside Ireland, including many from the UK. We will hit at least 1,800 this year, so it is a large number.

In fairness to the Department of Health, we have been working very closely with it from a resources point of view. Yet, as I was just saying, under the EU legislation, which is what we apply across the whole lot, we have four months to get somebody through that process once we have all the papers. We are actually getting there in about ten weeks.

We are also looking at alternative routes. I have mentioned that we are looking at frequently seen qualifications. Therefore, if a radiographer comes from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, they will get through more quickly because we have seen those qualifications. Therefore, it is a case of the frequency of colleges with frequently seen qualifications. We are looking to roll that out. Physiotherapy is one of those areas as well. I hope that answers Deputy Nolan's query.