Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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First, I thank those who submitted their contributions. They were very interesting to read.

On the nursing issue, the witnesses said there were 1,945 registered nurses. I assume they do not believe that is enough. I hope this committee comes up with a recommendation and I should say I am not a full member of the committee. I am just substituting for Deputy Gould today. However, I am also a director of the local mid-west region drug and alcohol forum and I have been for ten or 11 years. I know the issues on the ground. I never say I am an expert on drugs but I am an expert on the outcomes of them and dealing with the families and communities that have been destroyed by it in my local area, especially by organised crime gangs. We have a really good project going in Limerick called the LEAR project, which the mid-west drugs task force does with Ana Liffey. We refer people not to the Garda but to services if it is their choice.

Going back to Mr. McBrien, how does he see it progressing? Can he clarify, for instance, if a nurse can prescribe methadone to someone who is not on opiates, that is, if he or she was a cancer patient or something like that?