Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

I addressed this earlier but I can address it again, with the permission of the Chair. The OECD numbers in respect of the nurse ratio have been contested by the Government and the Department of Health because, traditionally, midwifery figures were included, but other countries do not include midwifery. In addition, other countries only count bedside nurses, whereas we count the whole spectrum of nursing. That will improve because the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland has now taken responsibility for determining the numbers. Until now, it was done under the quarterly household survey and it was not specific. Those figures have been contested and they are not correct.