Dr. John Marley:

There are approximately 32 places which, with those in Wales, England and Scotland, are advertised at national level. There has been national recruitment in the past three to four years, if memory serves me correctly.

The individuals who have approximately six months to go to graduation will undergo national recruitment interviews and be placed, based on rank, in the various regions in the United Kingdom. The cost per trainee in Northern Ireland is in the region of £60,000. That includes various sundries such as travel expenses, etc. It is an approximate cost for foundation training.

On the question of access for graduates from the Republic, they will find it very difficult to get into UK-based foundation training programmes, if they can do so at all.