Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. The issue raised with me by nursing home owners is that is taking a long time to inform nurses of problems with their registration applications. Applications are being placed at the bottom of the pile when problems are identified. A similar approach was taken some years ago in respect of student grant applications to Student Universal Support Ireland, and the same practice has been evident n local authorities for many years. Surely, if an application is found to be incorrect, a call should be made to the applicant within one hour informing him or her what documentation needs to be submitted. The NMBI can only deal with the applications it receives. However, if it takes six or eight weeks to request further information from applicants, the entire process slows down, which is extremely frustrating for owners of nursing homes, who must wait six, nine or 12 months before a nurse can start work.

While I accept the Minister's comments on changes to the Fair Deal scheme and the increase in the number of nurses as the economy improves, this issue is entirely a matter of red tape and bureaucracy. As I stated, no one wants to cut corners in the recruitment process. We expect nothing less than the best trained, most skilled and most qualified staff in our nursing homes and hospitals. Surely it would be possible, with some additional resources and further consultations with the relevant stakeholders, to inform applicants of problems with a registration application much sooner than is currently the case. I am informed that this process can take six or eight weeks, during which time the application does not advance, which is extremely frustrating for the nurse seeking registration. I expect that nurses in many of the countries from which we are recruiting are able to move to other countries with much more efficient systems for recruiting nurses. If we want to recruit the best nurses, we must clean up this minor bureaucratic mess.

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