I have received the letter referred to by the Deputy and I have replied to the organisation concerned. As I explained in my reply, I have made funding available to the Health Service Employers Agency to employ a nurse manager to co-ordinate the provision of supervised clinical placements for nurses recruited from abroad. As you are aware, nurses from the Philippines and certain other non-EU countries are required to undertake such placements prior to registration with An Bord Altranais.
The recruitment of nurses from abroad is helping to ease staffing difficulties across a range of health care settings. However, some problems have arisen in relation to the availability of supervised clinical placements, and I am determined that nurses requiring such placements will be provided with them. The Health Service Employers Agency co-ordinator will have a nationwide remit in ensuring the availability of sufficient clinical placements.