Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 125: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will deploy graduate-employment programmes for graduate nursing staff at Letterkenny General Hospital, County Donegal, in view of the fact that there is a shortage of nursing staff at Letterkenny General Hospital and that the Health Service Executive spent €15.6 million on the education of nurses at Letterkenny Institute of Technology in 2004 to 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24637/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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This year, the HSE is required to achieve a net reduction of 1,520 (or 1.4%) in its employment levels. Corresponding reductions will be required in 2011 and 2012 to achieve an overall reduction of 6,000 between March 2009 and December 2012. These reductions are an essential and unavoidable part of the measures being taken by the Government to address the gap between revenue and expenditure.

While there is provision in the HSE's Employment Control Framework for some exemptions and exceptions these are limited because of the need to achieve the required payroll savings. The alternative would be to reduce services in order to secure the necessary expenditure reductions which I assume the Deputy would not favour.

I recognise that the employment controls introduced by the Government will obviously impact on newly qualified nurses. However, the only way to ensure we have a sustainable health service in the future is to take firm action now to address the budgetary imbalance.