Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Some 819 additional nurses were employed last year, many of whom replaced people who retired. CSO statistics indicate that there are 12.2 nurses per 1,000 people in this country. Bord Altranais registration figures indicate that there are more than 15 nurses per 1,000 people. In the EU, the ratio is 8.5 nurses per 1,000 people and in Britain the figure is nine nurses per 1,000 of the population. Nurses represent more than half of all the professionals working in health care in Ireland. In Britain, they represent 28% of professionals and in France, 22.5%. I accept there are issues this year because of moving from the apprenticeship programme to the graduate programme. That is why €2 million was allocated towards recruitment policies, essentially going overseas. To put it in context, 91% of nurses working in Ireland are Irish and just under 2% are from the UK. Contrary to the impression which is often created, approximately 6% are from outside Ireland and the UK.

The Dublin allowance was examined by both the Labour Court and the benchmarking body. There is merit in that and it is used in other countries, but it cannot be ring-fenced around nurses. It would have to apply to other public servants. The cost of that in a full year, at the rate suggested, would amount to approximately €258 million. I said to the INO on Friday, and at the SIPTU conference on Monday evening, that if we could deal with some of the practicalities around individual hospitals, we might be able to have more innovative solutions. The Mater Hospital has 1,000 nurses, as has Tallaght, yet there is no flexibility at hospital level to put in place innovative approaches to try to attract people or retain them. Even though the retention rate in Dublin is higher than in the rest of the country, the turnover rate in nursing has declined from 17% per annum to approximately 10% per annum over recent years. At least we are moving in the right direction.

Many young people, including nurses, are taking the opportunity to travel abroad, some of them to practice nursing and more to travel the world. According to An Bord Altranais, relatively few — approximately 400 — practise nursing because they must register. Many of them travel the world, as do many young people. This is a factor in nursing as it is in many other areas.

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