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The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report. It notes that apart from comments on the application of Article 5, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Convention, the Government provides no additional information in reply to the Committee's comments, the substance of which is therefore repeated, together with new comments.

Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2. The Committee notes from the information supplied on the application of the Convention in metropolitan France, that health policy is the responsibility of the Ministry of Solidarity, Health and Social Welfare and that measures taken after consultation with the occupational organizations and unions of nurses concerned, particularly those taken by the Higher Council of Paramedical Professions, are implemented by the State and its external services, the local communities and other public and private bodies. The Committee also notes that coordination of the nursing personnel and services policy in the territory is, under the terms of Order No. 84-049CG of 7 February 1984, the responsibility of the Territorial Directorate for Health and Social Affairs of New Caledonia and its dependencies. The Committee again asks the Government to provide detailed information on the nursing personnel and services policy which, as part of general health planning, is intended to provide nursing care of the quantity and quality necessary to ensure the highest possible level of health for the population in the territory. Please also supply statistics of the number of persons entering the profession annually, the number of nursing personnel by sector (public, private, self-employed) and their proportion in relation to other workers in the health sector, and the number of persons who have left the profession.

Article 5, paragraph 1. The Committee again asks the Government to indicate the measures taken to strengthen the participation of nursing personnel, particularly in the private sector, in the planning of nursing services and consultation with such personnel on decisions concerning them, in accordance with this provision of the Convention.

Article 5, paragraph 2. The Committee notes from the report that nursing personnel working in the public sector are governed by texts which are not subject to supervision by the labour inspectorate. It again asks the Government, as manager of this sector, to provide information on the outcome of the negotiations under way in metropolitan France on the reform of the terms and conditions of service of the public service and their impact on nursing personnel in this sector in New Caledonia.

Article 5, paragraph 3. The Committee notes with interest that the Occupational Agreement of 23 November 1989 extended by Order No. 825-T of 15 February 1990, provides in article 9 for a joint negotiating committee to be responsible for the settlement of any collective disputes arising between the employer and employees of an establishment coming under this agreement. With regard to the public sector, it again asks the Government to supply information on the procedures for settling disputes arising out of the determination of terms and conditions of employment as they are applied to nursing personnel.

Article 6(a) and (b). The Committee notes with interest that the above-mentioned Occupational Agreement of 23 November 1989 contains, in Chapters VI and VII, articles 24 to 33, provisions covering private sector nursing personnel, relating to: (a) hours of work, including the compensation of overtime, inconvenient hours and shift work; and (b) weekly rest. It again asks the Government to state the provisions covering public sector nursing personnel in these areas.

Article 7. The Committee again asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to improve existing legal provisions on occupational health and safety by adapting them to the special nature of nursing work and the environment in which it is carried out. In addition, the Committee notes Circular DSS/AT No. 93-32 of 23 March 1993 specifying the means for implementing the regulations - Decree No. 93-74 of 18 January 1993 and the Order of 18 January 1993 - establishing a new procedure for coverage, under employment injury legislation, of workers infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It asks the Government to state to what extent the Circular and regulations mentioned above are applied in New Caledonia. Furthermore, with reference to its general observation of 1990, which it repeated in 1994, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged, in consultation with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned, to take account of the particular risk of accidental exposure to the HIV virus among nursing personnel: for example, adjustment of working conditions, confidentiality of test results, acknowledgement that the cause of the infection is occupational, etc. Please also state how these measures are extended to New Caledonia.