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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 1 Jun 1999

Vol. 505 No. 6

Written Answers. - Nursing Staff Recruitment.

Seán Haughey

Question:

155 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Health and Children the efforts, if any, being made to recruit more nurses generally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14307/99]

I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 7 and 42 on Thursday, 27 May, in which I gave details of initiatives being undertaken by the Health Service Employers' Agency – HSEA – to address the current difficulties being experienced by health agencies in recruiting nurses.

In tandem with the initiatives undertaken by the HSEA to encourage more registered nurses back to nursing, important measures have also been taken to attract more young people to nursing training.

The future demographics indicate that the recruitment of school leavers into nursing will become increasingly difficult. There are currently 340,000 in the 15-19 age group. It is projected that this will reduce to 245,000 by the 2011. This means that number of school leavers available for the labour market and education will be declining progressively over the next ten years.

A primary aim of the nursing careers centre, which is now managed by An Bord Altranais, is to ensure that nursing is vigorously promoted as a career choice in its own right for Irish school-leavers.

This year it is expected that there will be some 1,192 training places available on the nursing diploma programmes – 831 in general nursing, 201 in psychiatric nursing and 160 in mental handicap nursing. The Government has provided additional funding of £7.5 million this year, bringing to some £32 million the amount that will be spent on the programmes in 1999.

I am conscious of the need to increase the number of training places in general nursing. In 1998 a new school of general nursing was established in the Midland Health Board area with an annual intake of 20 places. The combined annual intake of the two schools attached to the new hospital in Tallaght was also increased by 33 places in 1998. This year it is hoped to provide an extra 50 places, which will be offered to applicants who successfully come through this year's competition.
The total number of training places in psychiatric nursing and mental handicap nursing has been substantially increased in recent years, but unfortunately it has not been possible to fill all of these places because of the lower level of interest in these particular streams. In 1998 only 92 of the 201 psychiatric places and 117 of the 175 mental handicap places were filled.
I made funding available to each of the schools of psychiatric and mental handicap nursing to undertake a marketing campaign aimed at secondary schools within their catchment areas. The Eastern Health Board received special funding for the production of a video on psychiatric nursing. A sum of £150,000 was provided to An Bord Altranais specifically for promotional materials. Almost £400,000 in total has been invested in a concerted recruitment campaign, at both local and national level.
Nursing students on the diploma programmes receive an annual maintenance grant as well as other financial supports. The value of this grant was £2,500 when it was first introduced in 1994. It remained at this level until 1998, when I increased it by 20 per cent to £3,000. I further increased it by £250 to £3,250 with effect from 1 April 1999. This maintenance grant, which is not subject to a means test, has, therefore, been increased by 30 per cent since I took up office as Minister for Health and Children.
As part of the preparations for this year's competitions, An Bord Altranais, with my approval, amended its own rules to revise the minimum educational requirements for entry to nursing training. The effect of this rule change was to expand the range of leaving certificate subjects that may be presented by an applicant for admission to the nursing diploma programmes. In particular, it removed the requirement for a foreign language in the case of the non-NUI third level institutions involved in the operation of the programmes. In the context of attracting more entrants to nursing, a positive consequence of the rule change is to increase the pool of school leavers and others who are eligible for places on the nursing diploma programmes.
The initiatives undertaken in advance of this year's competitions were designed to stimulate interest in nursing as a career and increase the number of applications for training places. The response to this year's integrated competition for places on the general and psychiatric nursing diploma programmes has been very positive. More than 5,550 applications were received by the nursing careers centre, an increase of over 40 per cent on last year's figures. This year there are six applicants for every general nursing place, compared with four in 1998. Some 718 applicants expressed a first preference for psychiatric nursing, which is a most encouraging development. Some 3,400 applicants have passed the written assessment test, and all of these will be called for interview.
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