Dr. John O'Mahoney:

Deputy Neville asked about moves from the west Clare team. We have a new team set up in Clare and it will suit some of our people who have commuted from Clare to work in west Limerick to relocate. We are constantly facing a retention battle within our services. We are competing with other areas to attract people, but we also have to deal with urban drift. It is more noticeable in Clare. Deputy Harty will be familiar with this, whereby north Clare is essentially being partially depopulated and our services are located in Ennis. The same will occur in Newcastle West, which is on the border with Kerry, and I am well aware that the Kerry CHO is having the same difficulty attracting people. We will have transfers from our area to theirs because it suits people's personal lives and they know they can do it because they are a scarce resource. Retention of staff within our areas is a problem, never mind retaining the overall numbers.

I cannot get away from the fact that we are competing with the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia for staff across the board, not just doctors but also nurses and psychologists. Very often it is pointed out to me that it is about salaries, but it is not all about salaries but also about working conditions and working as part of a team. I meet colleagues of mine who are working abroad. I am almost schmoozing them trying to get them to come back to Ireland.