Nurses working in Irish hospitals are to be trained to carry out forensic examinations on sexual assault victims.
The move follows difficulties being experienced by the Department of Justice in contracting doctors around the State who are willing to provide the service.
A Galway GP, Dr Tony Lundon, who was contracted to carry out the examinations in the west has retired. Rape and sexual assault victims are now being forced to travel to the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, to be examined.
Dr Lundon retired in May. Since then all assault victims in the Galway region have been referred to Dublin and the Sexual Assault Unit in the Rotunda Hospital. They are being forced to make the 300-mile round trip in the period immediately after they have been attacked.
If a forensic examination is not carried out it greatly reduces the likelihood of securing a prosecution in a rape case.
A working group made up of officials from the Department of Justice, Department of Health, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and the Irish Nurses Organisation has been established and is considering how the training could be offered to nurses.
The Garda, Royal College of Surgeons and staff currently working at the sexual assault unit in the Rotunda are also involved in the process.
A pilot project involving nurses has been ongoing in Manchester for the last two years. The committee, which was established last October, is awaiting an evaluation of the study.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said it was experiencing "overall difficulties" in finding GPs willing to carry out the examinations.
By training nurses to perform the task it is hoped the shortage of GPs would be alleviated. In the interim, it is seeking a replacement GP in Galway to carry out the work.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said it is concerned that victims of sexual assaults are being asked to travel to Dublin at a time when they are "very emotionally vulnerable". "In a lot of cases people might also be physically injured in an attack, they will certainly be very distressed, so its unacceptable that they would have to drive to Dublin. It is putting people in a very difficult position," said Ms Breda Allen, chairperson of the DRCC.
