Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

They are more comments than anything. The Dublin weighting is probably a problem. We have been pushing it as a union for a long time but the Minister for Finance is not listening to us very well. Tony O'Brien's yellow pack graduate nurses and his quote "we forced them out" are significant. They never got over it because he never apologised for that. In respect of getting generic training nurses, there was a threat to psychiatry in its specialty. That has abated for now but I understand the problem internationally because many countries would have generic training nursing, although the research shows it is very poor for psychiatric patients.

One Deputy, or it might have been one of the witnesses, spoke about going into the colleges. We are waiting for the new children's hospital and its recruitment process and strategy. They are actually going into the schools so it is catching fourth or fifth year students prior to their making decisions on what they will study. It will take at least 15 to 20 years to regenerate the nursing and medical staff we need because we are losing them now. They are dropping off like flies. I know the unions will probably come after me and I will never be allowed to join the union but I have a comment about the reconfiguration of the entire restrictive practice of professional assessment and diagnosis. At the moment, it involves the consultant psychiatrist. Perhaps we should throw out those kinds of ideas out and look at what a team means and what responsibilities and skills a person needs to produce an assessment, diagnosis and treatment plan. We are moving a bit away and taking in nursing involves nurse prescribers and advanced midwife practitioners but we need to open our brains. I know people will not be very happy. People will feel they are left on contracts but we are going to have this significantly for at least the next generation so maybe we should think outside the box. Not everybody needs a consultant psychiatrist to make a diagnosis.