Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

The issue of the children's hospital was raised by my colleague, Senator Norris. I knew a mother on the Beara Peninsula who had got out of bed at 2.30 a.m. week after week to catch the train to Dublin and then take a taxi from Heuston Station to visit the old Crumlin Hospital with two sick children. Such people, whether on the Beara Peninsula, in Dingle, County Donegal or Dublin, are sicking of waiting for the new hospital. Please get on with it. I have no agenda, but it should be borne in mind that people living in rural areas want the new hospital to be built. Let us forget about the Dublin 4 agenda. When the woman from the Beara Peninsula arrived in Dublin, she did not care where the old hospital was, whether it was located in Tallaght, and her problem is replicated for other parents in remote and not so remote parts of rural Ireland. People living in my part of the country are sick of the debate on where in Dublin the new hospital should be located.

On the issue of hospitals, approximately 1,200 Irish trained nurses emigrate annually. How many non-EU nurses are working with the HSE and how many are working in private hospitals? Two of my sisters had to emigrate to train in the nursing profession and they are still abroad. I would hate to see a new generation having to emigrate. We train our nurses to degree level in best practice, but the majority of our newly trained nurses are leaving our shores for foreign climes. I do not want to give the wrong impression, but it sticks in the craw of some when they see that a large percentage of nursing staff are non-EU nationals. Is it a question of using cheap labour or special contracts? What are the facts and figures?