Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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598. To ask the Minister for Health the reason, when there are hundreds of Irish trained nurses moving abroad looking for work, that over 800 front line nursing posts have been lost in hospitals in 2013. [54106/13]

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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629. To ask the Minister for Health the number of nursing posts that have been lost in Cork-Kerry region hospitals to date since January 2013; the numbers lost in each hospital; the number of nursing jobs in total that have been left unfilled in these hospitals since 2009; the measures being taken to fill the vacancies of lost posts since January; the medium to long term plan to restore these staffing levels to an acceptable level for staff and patient safety; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54346/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take questions Nos. 598 and 629 together.

The census returns for October 2013 showed a fall of 1,482 whole time equivalents in the health sector since the start of the year, 588 of whom were in the nursing category. These falls reflect Government policy that the numbers employed across the public service must be reduced in order to meet fiscal and budgetary targets. The health sector must make its contribution to the necessary reduction. Nonetheless, it is open to the HSE to continue to recruit nurses and midwives in circumstances where it has been established that there is an urgent service requirement and this can be accommodated within the budgetary and staff number limits in place.

Notwithstanding the need to reduce numbers employed in the public service, the Government is wholly committed to the provision of training, work-experience and employment opportunities where possible. Hence the decision to implement a Nurse Graduate Initiate and an Intern Scheme for Health Support Staff. The Nurse Graduate Initiative enables the health services to offer 1,000 graduate nurses positions for two years, at a time when job opportunities in the public service are very limited. Therefore it supports the retention of recently qualified graduate nurses and midwives within the Irish health system and enables them to gain valuable work experience and development opportunities post-graduation. To date 77 staff nurse/midwife graduates have commenced employment in HSE South, 256 nationally.

There is a global demand for nurses and that they are a mobile workforce. A range of factors, including opportunities to gain further experience, the levels of pay available, working conditions generally and other economic factors and social conditions in different countries influence decisions to move abroad. As the recruitment of nurses to specific posts and regions is a matter for the HSE in the first instance, the Deputy's enquiries concerning nursing posts in Cork-Kerry regional hospitals have been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.