Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the Lansdowne Road process, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform announced that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland would not be increasing its retention fee until 2019. What was the role of the board in that? What on earth is role of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in that organisation? Is the board being told not to collect money? We have been told that under statute it can and must collect money to fund the organisation. It has, however, been told politically not to do so by the Government, which is not giving any extra funding to make up the difference. The result is that the witnesses have been dragged in to this committee to hear a load of complaints from all of us about how they are running the organisation. I am not trying to defend the fee increase, by the way. Is there political interference going on to suit a Government agenda which is having a negative impact on the organisation?