Ms Magdalen Rogers:

That is a really good and critical point to raise. The Irish Neurology Nursing Forum, an association of specialist nurses in neurology formed last October, is working together with those behind the national clinical programme for neurology towards an education pathway for nurses entering or currently in neurology nursing to develop, in collaboration with third level institutions, continuous professional development for September 2023 and plans for a postgraduate level 9 programme in neurology, with a start date in September 2024. That would fulfil the criteria for clinical nurse specialist registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. Training was a critical part of the resourcing of specialist neurology nursing. It was not enough to create the posts; we had to ensure training was developed in tandem.