Mary Harney has pledged to bring forward legislation to enable nurses prescribe medicines to patients in their care.
In a speech to the national conference of the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) in Mullingar, the Minister for Health said legislation to permit nurses to do more was long overdue.
Tanaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney
She said provisions to change the laws would be included in the Irish Medicines Bill due to be enacted before Christmas.
Ms Harney told delegates that "nurses in the US have had the capacity to prescribe for over 30 years."
She said research showed nurses tend to be more conservative in prescribing drugs and patients more likely to complete a course of medicine administered by nurses.
The INO's general secretary Liam Doran described the move as "extremely positive".
Mr Doran told ireland.comthat a change in the rules had been overdue and the move would change the "purely medical model of prescription".
He said permitting nurses to prescribe was particularly "patient friendly" as it would increase the level of care in areas where doctors were not present such as in nursing homes or in the community.
The Health Service Executive Professor Brendan Drumm is due to address the conference at 3pm.
