Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 4 Mar 1997

Vol. 475 No. 7

Written Answers. - Proposed Legislation.

Brian Cowen

Question:

52 Mr. Cowen asked the Minister for Health if the Nurses Act, 1985, is currently under review in his Department; if his attention has been drawn to concerns that it is being proposed to remove control of nursing and midwifery from An Bord Altranais; his views on the fact that any erosion or deregulation of An Bord Altranais would be to the detriment of the profession of nursing; the plans, if any, there are to re-establish a statutory standing committee on midwifery which was part of the structure of An Bord Altranais prior to the Nurses Act, 1985; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5625/97]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): A review of the Nurses Act, 1985, which gives An Bord Altranais its statutory basis, is currently under way in my Department. As part of this process, submissions were sought from various interested parties, including An Bord Altranais itself and the nursing unions. The submissions received recommended a number of changes to the 1985 Act and these are currently being considered in the context of the review.

The submissions have revealed a wide divergence of opinion in relation to a number of key issues which need to be carefully teased out before finalising legislative proposals in this vitally important area. I intend to ask my Department to bring these issues to the attention of the Commission on Nursing which I am in the process of establishing.