Written answers

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Department of Health

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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370. To ask the Minister for Health if he is satisfied that the Nursing and Midwifery Board provides value for money in respect of its existing budget; the rationale for the proposed increase in registration fees, and his views that this is necessary [6847/15]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The NMBI has a statutory responsibility to ensure that it discharges its legal obligations within the financial resources available while also maximising efficiencies and income generation, in keeping with best practice in financial governance.

It should be noted that the Board's accounts are examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General's Office. In this regard, the accounts for 2012 and 2013 were recently published and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and are available on the website of NMBI.

The President of the NMBI has stated that NMBI is facing considerable costs arising from changes to the way the laws regulating the professions operate, and also from handling fitness to practice complaints. In addition to supporting the new public fitness to practise structures, he further stated the fee increase will foster excellence in the professions through a more effective Continuing Professional Development (CPD) framework, an enhanced scope of practice and the new Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for registered nurses and midwives recently published.

I wish to advise the Deputy that I met with the President, Vice-President and Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland on the 29 January 2015 to discuss the current dispute over the registration fee. I again requested that the Board of NMBI re-engage in discussions with the staff associations, as a matter of urgency. I am aware that since that meeting the Board has engaged in discussions with the nursing unions with a view to finding a solution, possibly facilitated by a third party, on the means by which the board and staff associations might come to an agreement on the fee structure for the future.

I again encourage the NMBI to find an outcome which secures the Board's minimum financial operating requirements but avoids a potential scenario where nurses and midwives maybe removed from the Register for non-payment of fees with potential consequences for service availability. Taking nurses off the register in a few months' time would create huge problems for hospitals and community facilities which need nurses to function, and for nurses themselves who would not be able to work or get paid if they were not registered.

I will continue to monitor the situation closely in the interests of patient safety and continuity of care.

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