Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I concur with the views expressed by my colleague, Senator Denis O'Donovan, on An Taisce. The Senator is correct that the same rules should be applied to An Taisce as to other organisations and that it should come within the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Some years ago in Cork the taxpayer had to pick up the €20 million in additional costs incurred when a project in which the State was involved was delayed as a result of one person lodging unfounded and unreasonable objections with An Bord Pleanála. This issue needs to be debated.

I raise the issue of the attitudes of final year medical students about to graduate from medical school towards working in the health system. In recent years there has been a major drain of junior doctors from the health system. A study produced recently by the University of Limerick shows that within 12 months of graduating 66% of students or graduates will not be working in hospitals and that more than 50% will have left the country. The annual cost of educating a medical student at university is approximately €25,000 per annum. If it costs €125,000 per student for a five-year course and 600 students are graduating in medicine each year, the annual cost of medical education stands at €75 million. Within 12 months €35 million of this investment will have been lost. We need to consider the reasons medical graduates are leaving Ireland so quickly. I, therefore, ask for an urgent debate with the Minister for Health on this matter because it is imposing a substantial cost on taxpayers. While I accept that medical graduates are leaving the country for genuine reasons, we have failed to address these reasons.