Mr. Fintan Hourihan:

Yes, it is to increase the numbers in Cork but as the numbers are such that less than half of those are EU or EEA citizens to start with, the likelihood is that only the EU graduates are likely to practise here. If we want to actually increase the number of dentists in practice, we need to have a greater number of places for EEA graduates, and that is primarily Irish school leavers. We will always have a need to bring in dentists from overseas and beyond the European Union. It is particularly problematic right now because the work permits that are granted even, for example, to Canadian dental graduates in Cork, effectively mean they are unable to work here because the permits are only granted on the basis that the person finds an employer. In dentistry, private dental practices do not tend to employ dentists and they take on dentists who work as associates, as they are known, on a self-employed basis. However, if people cannot get a permit because they are being offered a self-employed associate contract, we are not going to be able to offer this to dentists from outside the EEA.