Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Following the resignation of all previous DDMBA members in November 2021, I had hoped that a new DDMBA would have been established by now and that the appeals process would have recommenced.

You should note that five members are legislatively required for a functional Board, however the recruitment of these members has proved to be challenging. In this regard, four expressions of interest campaigns have been organised by the Department of Health – 3 of them in 2022, and one in April to replace a previously nominated person. The necessary 5 members have been nominated by the Minister for Health, with Garda vetting currently being undertaken for the most recently nominated candidate – this process was completed for the other four candidates at the start of the year.

An added complication to the recommencement of the appeals process is that in February 2023, the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) (the body that has hosted the DDMBA since 2000) indicated their intention to withdraw their services with immediate effect. Finance and Health officials have been actively seeking to implement new arrangements since, including engaging with the NRH. Some progress has been made on this matter insofar as the NRH has indicated a willingness to once again host the DDMBA and the Department is working actively with it to ensure that issues in relation to the processing of funding are addressed so that the consideration of appeals can be quickly resumed. It is important to note that requests for appeal hearings can still be sent to the DDMBA secretary based in the NRH.

Assessments for the primary medical certificate, by the HSE, are continuing to take place. In this regard, an important point to make is that even though there has been no appeal mechanism since the previous Board resigned, applicants who have been deemed not to have met one of the six eligibility criteria required for a PMC are entitled to request another PMC assessment six months after an unsuccessful PMC assessment.

I have no role in relation to the granting or refusal of PMCs and the HSE and the Medical Board of Appeal must be independent in their clinical determinations.