Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 24, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

"(4) The Board shall ensure that—

(a) a draft of the statement of strategy that it proposes to adopt under this section is published in the prescribed manner, not later than 2 months before the time when the Board is to submit a statement of strategy to the Minister under subsection (1)(b),

(b) with the draft is published an invitation to members of the public, any organisation and any body to comment on the draft before a date, which shall not be earlier than one month after the date of the publication, which the Board specifies in the invitation, and

(c) it considers any comments received under paragraph (b) in preparing the statement of strategy that it submits to the Minister under this section.".

The points made by the Deputy were made on Committee Stage by him and other Opposition spokespersons, and those points have been taken on board. Amendment No. 3 refers to "consultation with the nursing and midwifery professions" and my amendment goes beyond that in proposing a broader consultation to include the public and other relevant organisations and bodies.

The Deputy claims there was a lack of consultation in devising the provisions of this Bill. There was extensive public consultation in the preparation of this Bill and meetings were held with various stakeholders, including the unions and directors of nursing and midwifery. This is information I have been given in respect of what happened last year in this regard but I urge Members to accept amendment No. 4 in the spirit in which it is tabled. It takes on board the points that were made on Committee Stage and goes further by providing for a wider consultation.

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