Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 79: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when he expects the Health Service Executive to complete an investigation into the way an unregistered nurse was able to continue practising at Letterkenny Hospital, County Donegal; and if it has been confirmed to him that no other such cases exist around the country. [13414/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The HSE has appointed two independent experts, both with many years experience in nursing practice, to carry out a review into this matter. The investigation commenced on the 5th of May and it is anticipated that it will be complete, at the latest, by the 1st August.

The responsibility to register with An Bord Altranais is a matter for each individual nurse as a member of the nursing profession. In addition, each practising nurse is required to renew their registration with An Bord Altranais on an annual basis. The review will seek to establish why the necessary processes and checks, in keeping with HSE policy, did not identify that this individual's registration had lapsed. Since becoming aware of this issue the HSE has checked, and is satisfied, that all nurses working in other Sexual Assault Treatment Units around the country are actively registered.

In addition, an extensive check across all HSE services is underway to provide an assurance that nurses who have been removed from the register, maintained by An Bord Altranais, are not practising within the HSE. As a result, a very small number of cases across the country were identified where registrations had lapsed for varying degrees of time; all of the nurses are now back on the register. The matter of more expediently identifying and dealing with these cases, as they arise, is currently being addressed.