Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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485. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of the significant delays being experienced in registering nurses with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland; if he will take proactive steps to address same, including the provision of adequate resources to the board to enable it to fulfil its statutory duty by providing timely registration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26366/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to thank the Deputy Penrose for raising this question. Delays in processing nurse registration applications are directly connected to the volume of requests arising from the current initiatives to attract and retain nurses in the Irish health services. The Department of Health and the HSE are collaborating in sourcing several solutions to meeting the issues arising in relation 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, to protect the public, the NMBI seeks evidence from applicants of comparable standards of education and practice. According to the NMBI the timeframe for the completion of the assessment of qualifications for registration takes up to a maximum of 90 days provided all necessary documentation has been supplied by the applicant.

The main difficulty to expediting timely applications as reported by the NMBI is that of delay or failure by the applicant or third parties to furnish the necessary documentation required to assess eligibility for registration. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, following assessment of qualifications by an applicant, may require an applicant to undertake a six to twelve week period of adaptation and assessment. A period of adaptation is designed to make up for differences in education and ensure competence for working in the Irish health service. If this adaptation is required it must be successfully completed as a pre-requisite to registration.

It is important to note that the NMBI are dealing with very significant volumes of applications at present. The NMBI are processing all applications as quickly as possible, while ensuring appropriate procedures and checks which are designed around protection of the public.

I wish to advise the Deputy that NMBI have been allocated additional resources to address the issues.