asked the Minister for External Affairs if he can now state the result of inquiries made following a reply of 8th February regarding the selection of West Indian student nurses in preference to Irish girls in a large London hospital.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Student Nurses in London.
6.
I have had inquiries made in this matter and I am satisfied that the statement referred to was part of a summary of a statistical survey covering a four-year period and not intended as a recommendation of a policy of preference for one nationality over another. The statement does not refer to nurses nor to nursing students in general but refers only to one category of entrants into training, namely, those condidates who achieved the minimum pass marks at the entrance examination.
The author regrets that the study was published without the accompanying statistics as the latter would have made it clearer that the conclusions were based upon a statistical survey. I am informed that in order to prevent misunderstanding the statement in question will be deleted in the further publication of the study in the International Nursing Review.