2072. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Health if the salary scale can be extended by the addition of one further scale point and the award of a long service increment in respect of clinical nurse and midwife specialists, as was recommended by the expert body on nursery and midwifery for clinical nurse managers; if he will engage with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31384/24]

Recent increases applied to the Clinical Nurse/ Midwife Manager 2 (CNM2/CMM2) scale were a result of the implementation of recommendation 45 of the Expert Review Body (ERB) on Nursing and Midwifery.

While I understand that the salary of the CNS/CMS role has historically been aligned with the CNM 2/CMM 2 role, the terms of reference for the ERB did not incorporate the CNS/CMS for pay related considerations.

Once I became aware of this issue, I sought to ensure that the benefits of recommendation 45 of the ERB could also be applied to the CNS/CMS grade. Following engagement between the two Departments, I can confirm that the Department of Health has now received sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure NDP Delivery and Reform to allow this to happen.