Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

In fairness, in the last moratorium, which was introduced in the health service in 2007, we saw an exponential growth in agency staffing, directly as a result of the suppression of recruitment. It does the opposite of what is intended. When you put a moratorium in place, you will increase your agency costs because people still turn up at the hospital and they have to be cared for. They still require services in the community. It is not an option. The problem I think everybody needs to focus on is that we have a growing population. Our needs in the health service are increasing. We only have to look at the Government's own figures and projections. They ask for projections but when they get projections, they put a cap on recruitment. It is simply not sustainable.