Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Burke for raising this issue. I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, who is not available this afternoon due to Government business.

I wish to advise the Senator that Department of Health officials met with the president and chief executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, NMBI, last week to discuss a range of operational issues, including the current delays in registration. The NMBI is keeping the current situation under review. The Senator may wish to know that the NMBI has been allocated additional resources to address the issues which he outlined. Delays in processing nurse registration applications are directly connected to the volume of requests arising from current initiatives to attract and retain nurses in the health services. The Department of Health and the Health Service Executive are collaborating to find solutions to meet the issues arising in regard to nurse recruitment and retention. The background to this issue is that nurses who trained in a country outside of Ireland and wish to work in Ireland are required to apply to register as a nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, NMBI. In assessing an applicant for registration and in order to protect the public, the NMBI seeks evidence from applicants of comparable standards of education and practice.

According to the NMBI, the timeframe for completion of the assessment of qualifications for registration is up to a maximum of 90 days provided all necessary documentation has been supplied by the applicant. The main difficulty in expediting timely applications, as reported by the NMBI, is the failure by the applicant or third parties to furnish the documentation required to assess eligibility for registration, or the delay in so doing. The board, following assessment of qualifications by an applicant, may require him or her to undertake a six to 12- week period of adaptation and assessment. This period of adaptation is designed to make up for differences in education and ensure competence to work in the Irish health service. If such adaptation is required, it must be successfully completed as a prerequisite to registration.

There are two remaining HSE adaptation courses available this year, in June and August. These courses are six to 12 weeks in duration and facilitate the integration of global nurses to nursing in an Irish context. Since the nationally co-ordinated pilot adaptation programme commenced in June 2014, 151 candidates have completed the programme, 58 are currently undergoing assessment, and 126 are due for assessment up to the final programme in August 2015. Outside of the current provision for placements in 2015, there are 293 requests for placements by employers. These numbers are not reflective of a national total as some hospital sites run independent adaptation programmes.

A collaborative group, including the Department of Health, the HSE and Nursing Homes Ireland, NHI, representatives, continues to explore options to facilitate adaptation. In this regard, some hospitals will respond to local need from local nursing homes, and this has been encouraged within the hospital group structures. Other hospitals will continue to support placements pending funding from NHI, although not at peak undergraduate student times. In addition, some hospitals are withdrawing from the provision of clinical placements to facilitate their own internal international recruitment initiatives.

It is important to note that the NMBI is dealing with very significant volumes of applications at present. It is processing all applications as quickly as possible, while ensuring appropriate procedures and checks are adhered to with a view to ensuring protection for the public. As I said at the outset, the chief executive officer of the board met with departmental officials last week to discuss a range of operational issues, including the current delays in the registration process. The NMBI is keeping the situation under review and has been allocated additional resources to address the issues the Senator outlined.