Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will turn to more practical matters. Deputy O'Reilly raised the issue of practice nurses being involved in the delivery of contraceptive services. Increasingly, practice nurses are playing an expanded role in general practice. It is often the practice nurse who would have a consultation with women about contraception, perhaps more than the general practitioner. If it is a male general practitioner, women are likely to engage with the practice nurse before they would engage with the GP. They have a huge role. Is the college running courses in respect of practice nurses being nurse prescribers for contraception?