Dr. John Hillery:

I am from Munster; I can follow someone from Cork.

The limits are set by National Doctors Training and Planning, NDTP. The Deputy talked about the IHCA making appointments; that is done within the HSE by a committee and the NDTP is part of that system. In my six years in the college, we have regularly had constructive arguments with the NDTP about the number. Perhaps they were not so constructive, as I have said. When the Taoiseach was Minister for Health, he helped us out one year in asking the HSE to extend the number of trainees we could have. It is a constant issue for us. Why is that so? I could say that I do not think psychiatry is taken as seriously as some other specialties in medicine but I have no evidence for that. It is just the feedback we feel we get. We will keep campaigning on that. As the Deputy will know from the document we put together, we need many more trainees.

The block with regard to the Medical Practitioners Act was snuck in as part of an amendment to the Act a few years ago and it needs to be taken out again in order that we can get more people from abroad who want to train here and allow them to train. Obviously somebody in a training post, rather than in a non-training post is better supervised and is a better doctor for the public. The international evidence is that departments containing trainees produce better outcomes for patients. That is why we need the Department of Health to propose a change in the Oireachtas to free that up. The limits are set by the NDTP and we keep battling away. Any support members of the committee can give would be very welcome.