David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It depended on the year and sometimes it was a bit more. Let us say it was an average of 6,000. We will now reach one third of this. If the Minister were to say the ceiling is 6,000 or 7,000 and that we would then put a cap on it, people could somewhat understand it. However, that is not what is happening. It happened at the end of last year but it is not happening now. I am putting it to the Minister in the strongest possible terms that it is not only a blunt instrument, it worse than that. People are coming out of training positions who are not fourth-year nurses or consultants but the allied healthcare professionals that we need. They will not be employed in the public system. The question is where will they go. We have trained them and we have paid for their training but they will not be coming to work in the public system. This is a shame.