Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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My second point is on the same issue. The Minister is misleading the public and being disingenuous by referring to a €300 million cost in respect of the nurses' pay demands. He is not acknowledging that there will be significantly increased tax as a result of that and the additional recruitment. He is not acknowledging the savings that will be made in the payment of agency nurses, which runs at approximately €2 million per week. He is not acknowledging the fact that, to recruit nurses from overseas, we are paying foreign companies €10,000 per recruit, and we are still not recruiting enough people. Should the Minister not acknowledge that the price tag of €300 million is an exaggeration that he is using to deflect from the legitimacy of the nurses' pay claim?