PART III

Registration

27. —(1) The Board shall, in accordance with rules made by the Board, maintain a register of nurses (in this Act referred to as the register) which shall be divided into the divisions specified in such rules and such divisions shall include a division applicable to midwives.

(2) The Board shall as soon as may be after its establishment prepare and establish the register.

(3) Any reference in this Act to the register of nurses shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include a reference to any division of the register and “registered” and “registration” shall be construed accordingly.

(4) The Board shall publish the register of nurses or any division or divisions thereof at such times and in such manner as the Minister may direct.

(5) Any change in the name or address of a nurse shall be notified to the Board by the nurse.

(6) The Board shall take such steps as it considers necessary from time to time to ensure that the names and addresses of persons registered in the register are accurate.

(7) Every person whose name is entered on the register shall, as soon as may be after that person's registration has been completed, be sent by the Board a certificate stating that his name has been entered in the register.

(8) A certificate issued by the Chief Executive Officer that the name of the person to whom the certificate relates is entered in the register shall, without proof of the signature of the person purporting to sign the certificate or that that person was the proper person so to sign, be evidence in any legal proceedings of the matters certified in the certificate, until the contrary is shown.

28. —(1) The Board shall, in accordance with rules, register in the register every person who satisfies the Board that he complies with the prescribed conditions for registration.

(2) The Board may register a person in more than one division of the register if such person applies and satisfies the prescribed conditions for registration in each such division.

(3) Every person whose name, at the date of the establishment of the register, is entered on the register of nurses maintained by the former Board pursuant to the Nurses Act, 1950 , shall be registered in the register.

(4) Every person who is a national of a Member State and has been awarded a qualification in nursing in a Member State which, pursuant to the provisions of any Directive adopted by the Council of the European Communities, the State is obliged to recognise, shall, on making an application in the form and manner specified in rules made by the Board, and on payment of such fee as may be so specified, be registered in the register.

(5) Nothing in this section shall operate to prevent the Board from refusing to register the name of any person, who is otherwise entitled to be registered, on the grounds of the unfitness of that person to engage in the practice of nursing.

(6) On making a decision pursuant to subsection (5) of this section, the Board shall forthwith send by pre-paid post to the person to whom the decision relates a notice in writing stating the decision, the date thereof and the reasons therefor.

(7) A person to whom a decision under subsection (5) of this section relates may, within the period of two months, beginning on the date of the decision, apply to the High Court for cancellation of the decision, and, if such person so applies, the High Court, on the hearing of the application may—

(a) declare that it was proper for the Board to make the decision, or

(b) cancel the decision and direct the Board to register the name of the person making the application, or

(c) cancel the decision and—

(i) direct the Board to make a new decision, or

(ii) give such other directions to the Board as the Court thinks proper.

29. —(1) For the purpose of keeping the register correct, the Board shall from time to time as occasion demands correct all verbal or clerical errors in such register, remove therefrom all entries therein procured by fraud or misrepresentation, enter in the register every change which comes to its knowledge in the addresses of the persons registered therein, and remove from the register the names of all persons whose death has either been notified to, or come to the knowledge of, the Board.

(2) Whenever the Board takes any action under subsection (1) of this section for the purpose of keeping the register correct, the Board shall forthwith notify the person concerned, or his next of kin, as the case may be, of the actions taken and the reasons therefor.

30. —The Board may, with the consent of the Minister, register in a register maintained for that purpose, the names of persons who are engaged in a profession or calling which is ancillary to nursing, and the provisions of this Act, subject to such modifications as may be specified in rules made by the Board, with the approval of the Minister, shall apply to any such registration.