Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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169. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the current funding to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland; the current staff complement; the proportion by which each category has changed over the past five years; his plans to provide additional resources to assist the board in tackling the large backlog of registration applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32648/15]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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170. To ask the Minister for Health if he will indicate what the current average waiting time is, in weeks, for the processing of registration applications at the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland; what representations he has received in respect of tackling the delays which exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32649/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 and 170 together.

I want to correct a misapprehension being given regarding applications for Nursing Registration following a number of reps received. The Department continues to hold regular meetings with the NMBI on this matter in order to ensure that progress is being made to reduce such delays.

The Latest figures from the NMBI indicate that there are 2,260 open applications, of which:

- 1,383 have documentation outstanding (61%);

- Registration decision letters have issued in 263 cases from 1 July to 23 September 2015;

- 38 have been approved and a fee is awaited by the NMBI; and

- 181 are waiting review.

The applications that have been submitted with incomplete documentation (61%) cannot be processed until full documentation has been supplied. For this reason a new helpline is being set up to assist people with their applications and deal with registration queries. An upgraded website is also being developed. The Department has approved the filling of 16 posts.

With regard to the current average waiting times, this is an operational matter and it is appropriate that they should be dealt with by the NMBI. I have referred your questions to the NMBI for attention and direct reply in relation to these matters.

If you have not received a reply from the NMBI within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.