Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are all very welcome. I will not duplicate questions already asked. I was very interested to hear the Irish Medical Council propose that heads 2 and 4 should be merged. That was the conclusion to which I came following the January hearings. I went in with a different opinion but having listened to the submissions I questioned why we were differentiating. I am interested in hearing the views of the members of other bodies on how they feel about the differentiations that are being made.

Deputy Conway has made several points about time limits. I am not a medical practitioner and I do not know the answer, which is why I ask the question. The Medical Council made a distinction between registered medical practitioners and medical practitioners. What are the consequences of including the word “registered”? Who are we excluding?

Conscientious objection is something everyone can understand and appreciate but should we consider a requirement that as a general rule a practitioner would declare his or her conscientious objection rather than waiting until a situation got to a certain point? How do we ensure that hospitals would have an adequate number of medical professionals who have not declared a conscientious objection?