Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was not trying to say it was not progressive. I thank the Minister of State. He is quite right that nurses' roles have changed although their everyday work may not have changed enough. I was trying to make sure that if we go down this road, there will not be a hiccup. There would be nothing worse than having a number of nurses lined up in a month or two to take up the position - for which I think they are eminently qualified as they have the hands-on experience - and then having a hiccup. I want to ensure the nurses will play their full role.

I asked about remuneration because the text states "medical assessor". I presume that role has been benchmarked at some stage. If not, will a different layer be created on the basis that the nurses might not be seen as full medical assessors, keeping them on a lower rate? Hopefully that can be clarified quite quickly as they should be on the full rate if they are doing the full job. I hope they will be able to do that.

I remember for the domiciliary care allowance that there was a set of ailments that qualified and another set that required greater investigation within the Department. There were two lists. Thankfully, that is gone. It was not always a medical assessor who made those judgments. That is an easy enough role, but the role the nurses would have would be more intensive. They would have a greater understanding of some of the ailments that come up and some of the restrictions, particularly if they are occupational therapists. Some of the medical assessors in the past did not seem to get to grips with all of those issues. I have seen people refused disability allowance when one look at them or at the original documentation would suggest they should have received it immediately. At least some of the nurses will have some practice.

Is there a minimum level of practice or do they just have to be qualified? Even with doctors, qualification is often not enough. Maybe we should look at that in the future and require them to have some work experience before becoming medical assessors. It is such an important role. In past years it has caused quite a headache. The assessments are made and sent on to the deciding officers, who invariably take what the medical assessor sends them because they are not qualified to make any judgment on it. Then that decision is overturned.

Sometimes people do not have all the documentation supplied. In the event that it is clear the documentation is not complete, a phone call to request this or that letter before making the final decision would save the Department a lot more money than some of the other schemes. People can address that, which is what the review was to do. Maybe the nurses with their hands-on experience would be able to have that approach as well. If it is clear to them there is a problem, rather than making a decision they might encourage the Department to seek other documentation to back up what seems like an incomplete file.

I am not opposed to the section. I am raising concerns that it was sprung on us and was not fully thought out. If it is as I said, it might work and might help address the problem we have.