Vol. 531 No. 4
29 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of unfilled nursing posts in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area and in the rest of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5955/01]
Nurse staffing difficulties largely relate to the greater Dublin area. Indications are that the situation is improving in this area following recent recruitment initiatives and as recruitment of nurses from abroad begins to pay dividends.
The Health Service Employers Agency is undertaking a survey of nursing vacancies at 31 January 2001 which should confirm these indications. A copy of this survey will be forwarded directly to the Deputy as soon as it is available.
In the meantime, the information available to me indicates that the overall situation in the major Dublin hospitals has improved since September 2000. The number of vacancies in Beaumont Hospital, for example, has fallen from 113.5 at 30 September 2000 to ten currently.
The position regarding foreign recruitment is that over 700 nurses have been granted work visas or work authorisations since June 2000. The recruitment of these nurses is helping to alleviate in particular the most acute areas of shortages.
A major new recruitment and retention initiative, costing in excess of £5 million, was launched by me on 29 November 2000 to address the present shortage of nurses and midwives. In particular a new scheme of flexible working arrangements for nurses and midwives in the public health service came into operation on 1 February. Under the scheme, individual nurses and midwives may apply to work between eight and 39 hours per week on a permanent part-time basis.
As part of my overall recruitment-retention strategy, I have introduced the following financial support for nurses and midwives undertaking post-registration educational courses: payment of fees to nurses-midwives undertaking part-time nursing and certain other undergraduate degree courses; improved scheme of financial support for student public health nurses; enhanced financial support package for student midwives and student paediatric nurses; payment of fees and enhanced salary to nurses-midwives undertaking specific courses in specialised areas of clinical practice; abolition of fees for "back-to-practice" courses and payment of salary to nurses-midwives undertaking such courses.
An advertising campaign aimed at attracting nurses back into the workforce and at attracting nurses back to Ireland ran from 30 November to 31 December 2000. This generated a significant number of inquiries.
