Nurses here will be given the authority to prescribe medication for the first time later this year.
Minister for Health Mary Harney yesterday said she believed patients would receive earlier interventions and therefore a better service as a result.
Nurses already prescribe for patients in many other countries. They have been prescribing in the US for decades, and they also prescribe in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Sweden and the UK.
The plan to give nurses here the same powers was first announced by Ms Harney in October 2005. Since then, regulations underpinning the change have been drawn up. The draft regulations have now been notified to the EU Commission, as required.
Ms Harney said she intended to sign the regulations in three months provided there were no objections from other EU states. After that the only requirement would be for nurses to undergo training, due to begin in April.
Under the regulations, individual nurse prescribers will be required to be employed by a health service provider and may only prescribe the drugs relevant to the setting in which they are employed. There are specific restrictions on certain controlled drugs. Patients will have to be under the care of a doctor before a nurse will be allowed to prescribe for them and the list of drugs the nurse will be able to prescribe will be approved by the employer through a multi-disciplinary committee agreement.
The regulations will be complemented by new rules being introduced by An Bord Altranais, the regulatory body for nurses and midwives.
"This is a real and significant change in nursing practice in Ireland which will deliver, over time, better and more timely access to medications by patients," Ms Harney said.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation has warmly welcomed the plan.
Liam Doran, its general secretary, said: "The INO is firmly convinced that this is an example of real reform within our health service which will increase the responsiveness of the health service to patient need."