Decision on sex assault unit nurses await report

A REPORT from Britain will influence if nurses here are trained to carry out forensic examinations on sexual assault victims.

A severe shortage of doctors has meant victims in many parts of the country have to travel to one of Ireland's three sexual assault units for examination Donegal, Dublin and Cork.

This can often mean round trips of hundreds of miles just hours after an assault. To bring a criminal case against an alleged rapist, the forensic medical examination of the victim must be carried out as soon as possible after the incident.