Vol. 233 No. 10
asked the Minister for Health if, in view of the decision of the British authorities to restrict recognition to nurses who trained in hospitals of more than 300 beds, he will state whether his Department have any scheme to federate Irish hospitals of less than this number of beds so as to bring Irish qualifications into line with those operating in Britain.
39.
asked the Minister for Health the number of training schools for nurses in Ireland; and the number of training hospitals which have more than 300 beds.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 38 and 39 together. As I stated in reply to a previous Parliamentary Question on the 29th February last, the question of the refusal of the British authorities to register Irish nurses who were trained in hospitals having a bed complement of less than 300 is the subject of correspondence between An Bord Altranais and the General Nursing Council for England and Wales at the moment. I propose to await the consideration by An Bord Altranais of the outcome of this correspondence.
At present in this country there are 64 training schools for nurses and mid-wives, 33 of which have a total bed complement of more than 300. I might mention in this regard that a number of these schools have been formed by the amalgamation of two or more hospitals for training purposes.
What will happen the other 31 training schools which have under 300 beds?
I do not know yet. We shall see what happens in the discussions between the board and the General Nursing Council for England and Wales. We shall see what comes out of it. I suppose, in principle, it is a good idea to have big schools.
