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The number of nursing student places in Northern Ireland is to be cut by 300, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News NI has learned. The Department of Health said the "difficult budgetary situation" meant hard choices were unavoidable. The RCN's Northern Ireland director, Rita Devlin, has described the move as an "act of destruction". The DoH said it recognised the importance of staffing and was committed to 1,025 new nursing places. This was the level in place before the New Decade, New Approach Deal, which included provision for an extra 300 nurse training places each year to address staff shortages and concerns over safety.