Fitness to Practise Committee
The role of the Fitness to Practise Committee is to inquire into complaints referred by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee under Section 61 of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, as amended. On completion of an inquiry, the Fitness to Practise Committee submits its report to the Board. The Committee may find that allegations are proven and that one or more grounds on which the complaint was made have been met, or it may alternatively find at an inquiry that no allegation against the registered nurse or midwife is proven and will dismiss the complaint. The Committee may also accept an undertaking and/or consent from a registered nurse or midwife at the early stages of an inquiry which will conclude the inquiry process promptly.
According to the Act, the Committee must be comprised as follows:
- At least one third of the members must be members of the Board.
- The chairperson must be a member of the Board.
- The majority of the members may not be or may not have been registered nurses or midwives in this State or any other jurisdiction.
Download the procedures of the committee here.
The Fitness to Practise Committee consists of 33 members, of whom 11 are Board members and 22 are not. They are as follows:
Board members
- Margaret Murphy (midwife)
- Mary Leahy (nurse) - Vice Chair
- Richard Bruton (non-nurse/midwife)
- Conan McKenna (non-nurse/midwife)
- Mark Johnston (nurse)
- Mary Rose Loughnane (nurse) - Chair
- Muireann Ní Shúilleabháin (non-nurse/midwife)
- Anne Marie Duffy (non-nurse/midwife)
- Ray Dolan (non-nurse/midwife)
- Mittu Alungal (nurse)
- Thomas Glynn (nurse)
Non-Board members
- Valerie Beatty (non-nurse/midwife)
- Ada Bradbury (non-nurse midwife)
- Triona Cowman (midwife)
- Juliana Henry (midwife)
- Dermott Jewell (non-nurse/midwife)
- Kathryn Muldoon (midwife)
- Margaret Philbin (midwife)
- Des O'Neill (nurse)
- Caroline Gourley (nurse)
- Denis Hamill (non-nurse/midwife)
- Caroline Murphy (non-nurse/midwife)
- Jim Kitson (non-nurse/midwife)
- Gertie Taggart (non-nurse/midwife)
- John O'Mullane (non-nurse/midwife)
- Greg Price (non-nurse/midwife)
- Aideen Neylon (non-nurse/midwife)
- Frankie Watters (non-nurse/midwife)
- Miriam O'Callaghan (non-nurse/midwife)
- Helen Murphy (midwife)
- Barbara Stuart (non-nurse/midwife)
- Stephen Killen (non-nurse/midwife)
- Avril Sheridan (non-nurse/midwife)