Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

If I might just give the figures I am quoting, the capacity review of 2018 to 2031 says there will be a 40% increase in demand for practice nursing, a 46% increase in demand for public health nurse appointments, a 39% increase in the need for residential long-term care, 70% for in-home care, a 16% increase in ED attendance - in fact, it is higher than that - a 37% increase in acute medical admission units and 24% increases in inpatient non-electives. We are not staffed to meet that projected requirement. Today there are almost 600 people sitting on trolleys in our hospitals because we do not have the capacity.

If the Cathaoirleach will indulge me for a second, I want to assure Deputy Durkan that the spending review 2022, a Government of Ireland publication, sets out the OECD numbers and states - I will quote this as the Deputy asked about other European countries - "For Austria and Greece, the data include only nurses working in hospitals. Midwives and nursing aides (who are not recognised as nurses) are normally excluded." Midwives are included in the figures for Ireland and Spain. The point is that we are not comparing apples with apples. We are comparing two different things. That will now be corrected by the nursing and midwifery board.