Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to be associated with the condolences to the young children who died in the fire this morning, and to the person who is in hospital. She will hopefully have a speedy recovery.

I am alarmed at the figures released this morning about the interim applications to the Central Applications Office, CAO. The applications for nursing are down by over 9% and the number for teaching is lower as well. I know the closure of beds in St. John's Hospital in Limerick was raised here in the last two days, and 15 of those closures were because of the lack of nurses. It is alarming that the application numbers for nurses are down by over 9%. I would like the Leader to have a debate about ways that we could incentivise people and encourage them to apply for the nursing course. Health and nursing care are brought to the fore every week here on the Order of Business. We need a debate to look at ways to incentivise and encourage people to apply for nursing courses, so that we can help to reduce the waiting lists and reopen beds.