Ms Ursula Byrne:

In terms of the comparison in timelines between Irish trained registrants and those who trained abroad, when Irish trained registrants start their education programme, they go on our candidate register. We already have them on our database and have assessed their identification document. Once they complete their programme and are signed off as being suitable to register by the head of the college and the director of nursing in the primary hospital where they had their placements, that process is very quick.

In terms of individuals who were taken off the register for not paying their fees and their restoration to the register, once we receive their application for restoration forms, which they can download from the website and send to us by email, and we have received payment of the restoration fee their restoration is complete within three working days. The issuing of a certificate of registration takes a bit longer than it would have done in previous years because of the volume this year, but they are legally entitled to be back in the workplace after three working days because their employer will be able to see on the online register that their registration has been restored.

A number of committee members asked about incomplete documentation. This does not just involve issues with the application form which the applicant nurse submits to us. It also involves issues to do with the supporting documentation which they must get from other sources. Somebody who is Irish trained will find the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland is somewhat of a one stop shop in that we provide verification that the person is registered, is in good standing with us and that his or her education programme met certain requirements. Somebody coming into the country may need to go to three different institutions to get that information and send it into us. He or she does not get all of the information from one place, depending on what country he or she comes from.

Deputy Mitchell O'Connor mentioned people who are already working in this country. Ironically, that may work against them because if they are in their home country and there is a delay in getting documentation from third parties, they can visit the offices of that third party and speed up the process. There are great difficulties in some countries which are outside of our control, in terms of applicants getting documents. There are also some countries where the documents come to us in a format that raises persistent queries about the content of the documents. This is an area where we work with recruiters so that if they are going to a particular country to recruit we can advise them as to the particular issues in that country. If the documentation is incomplete, we try to speed up the process of informing the applicant of exactly what is missing or needs to be clarified.

There was a question about what might be the issue after the assessment process.

This is information that primarily relates to the content of the transcript of training that the person sends in to us. It is only when that has undergone detailed scrutiny that questions arise, usually in respect of particular countries where there are issues, where it is not possible to make a decision until certain queries have been raised about the content of the person's education programme.

The other issue raised about education programmes relates particularly to the numbers undertaking their education programmes in Ireland. The number of places on courses is a matter for the Department of Health. It would, however, always consult with us on this matter. Programmes must also meet our requirements and standards so that we can be satisfied that at the end of the programme the student has had the requisite education and clinical experience. One of the key issues in respect of the number of students on programmes is that there must be sufficient staff in the clinical sites to support the supervised clinical practice and assessment of students. If in the morning there was to be a vast increase in the number of students, the clinical sites would not be able to support that. These are the same clinical sites that support overseas applicants undertaking adaptation placements. It is a question of getting that balance correct.