Half of nurses pay up increased fees

Almost half of the country’s 64,000 nurses and midwives have paid their regulatory authority the full registration fee of €150, it emerged yesterday.

The three nurses’ unions — the INMO, the Psychiatric Nurses Association, and Siptu — have been urging members to only pay last year’s €100 fee.

According to a spokesperson for the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) yesterday, around 30,000 nurses and midwives have paid the €150 fee for 2015. Fewer than 9,000 have only paid €100.