Vol. 495 No. 7
453 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on whether it is equitable that student nurses studying for a degree are not entitled to free third level fees while all other third level students are; the reasons for this; the plans, if any, he has to address this discrepancy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21768/98]
I presume the Deputy is referring to the one-year full-time degree course which University College Galway is offering to students who have successfully completed the nursing registration/diploma programmes, the first of which was introduced in 1994.
The position is that successful completion by a student of the three-year nursing registration / diploma programme leads to registration as a nurse with An Bord Altranais, at which point he or she will become eligible for employment as a nurse. Since a degree in nursing is not a requirement for registration as a nurse and subsequent employment, such a qualification would be an optional post-registration qualification. Members of the nursing profession wishing to undertake a nursing degree programme are, therefore, responsible for making their own arrangements, including the payment of course fees. I am not in a position to provide funding for these courses.
