Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

We dispute it, but also the Department of Health has clarified in its most recent document from 2020 that the OECD numbers are based on nursing and midwifery, while in other countries they do not include midwifery. Also, in other countries, they only include bedside nurses, while in Ireland, traditionally, we include everybody working as a nurse, whether it is in education or research. It did not matter, as there was no differentiation. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland has now produced figures which can differentiate between bedside and other work, so the OECD figures for the future will probably be better. We estimate they are inflated and so does the Department of Health, which has contested the OECD figures.