Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the representatives of the Irish Medical Council and thank them for their submission. As clarity is central to our deliberations, I would like to revisit that issue. I have a question for Professor Murphy who I understand is on record as saying the guidelines were awarded a stamp of approval by the National Adult Literacy Agency for the use of plain English. In view of this, when did the change occur? Does he still believe the guidelines are written in plain English? It is important that we establish at what stage we changed our views on the guidelines. Did it come from the council? Professor Murphy mentioned consultation, but he did not exactly reply to the question of how much correspondence he had received from practitioners on the lack of clarity in the guidelines. He must have some details, as distinct from the broader consultations to which he has referred.

I do not think Ms Spillane has provided a specific answer to the question of the knowledge she possesses of how many deaths have occurred owing to a lack of clarity. I would like to tease out that issue a little more with her. We should clarify it for ourselves.