Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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380. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland has increased the retention fee from €100 to €150 for 2015; if his Department was consulted or offered a view on the increase now being demanded; his views that a 50% increase is unjustified in view of inflation running at 2.2%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45819/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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A new Nurses and Midwives Act was passed into legislation in 2011. The Act provides, inter alia, for the protection of the public in its dealings with nurses and midwives and the enhancement of their high standards of professional education and competencies. The Department of Health is responsible for oversight of the governance of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). The Department has no role in setting or approving registration fees.

The Board is an independent body, answerable to the Oireachtas, with the responsibility to ensure that it has the financial capacity to undertake all its legal obligations. The cost of enacting the additional requirements under the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011 was set out in the Regulatory Impact Analysis that was carried out prior to the enactment of the legislation. These costs include an enhanced regulatory process with supporting systems for continued professional development and certain education and training requirements for the professions.

It was also made clear at the time of the legislation that the Board would continue to be self-funding and needed to plan and cost how it would fulfil its legal obligations. Following detailed negotiations with the Executive and Board members in 2013 it was agreed in October 2013 that an initial once-off sum of €1.6m would be granted by the Department to the Board to cover 2013/2014 costs, but that the Board would have to increase its income in 2015 to undertake its commitments in the legislation. The Board of the NMBI made the decision to increase the annual registration fee at its meeting on 17th September, 2014.

The Minister for Health continues to monitor the situation closely and has asked NMBI and the staff associations to continue these discussions in order to seek a satisfactory resolution in the interests of patient safety and continuity of care.