Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

We do not measure based on where people have trained. We measure the number of staff nurses in the front-line grade, who normally work at the bedside. We know that since December 2018, the number of staff nurses working in the public health service has decreased by 395. We know the levers and we can measure that. The last statistics in that regard are from 2017. The number of overseas nurses working in Ireland is continuing at a pace. Approximately 1,700 are being registered. That includes the private sector. We get those statistics from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, which has to register people who request to work here. We continue to be very dependent on our overseas colleagues to provide services. The Deputy also asked about where nurses are being recruited to. Nurses in general are being recruited to England first and to Australia second.