Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach and his colleagues for allowing me to speak early. As a former management consultant, the Minister will be aware of the importance of statistics and, as a politician, the maxim "lies, damned lies and statistics". He told the Dáil that there were 2,000 new staff in UHL and prompted the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, to do so. I went off, asked lots of parliamentary questions and finally got answers and the number was considerably fewer but I did not make a big brouhaha as I did not want to embarrass the Minister in the Dáil. Would he now accept that this figure is 1,200 and not 2,000 over the lifetime of this Government?