Professor Cathal Kelly:

I thank the Chairman and other members. I hope I will capture all of the points raised; if I do not, I am sure members will revert to me.

I will begin with a quotation from a press release issued by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton in January this year. It gives a sense of the European Union's view on progress in Bahrain. Obviously, we have stayed in very close contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including through the Tánaiste, and have been working through the United Nations and the European Union.

According to a spokesperson for her:

High Representative Catherine Ashton warmly welcomes the news that HRH Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, upon the request of HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, held wide ranging talks with participants in the National Dialogue in recent days, including in particular with Al-Wefaq's Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman for the first time since the events of February 2011.

The spokesperson stated High Representative Ashton also welcomed the positive reaction of the opposition and looked forward to the resumption of national consensus dialogue. On this occasion the European Union reiterated its conviction that there was no solution to the crisis other than a Bahraini one based on compromise and mutual trust. Things are moving on.
I was asked to come to the committee when I was on another Irish trade mission overseas about two weeks ago. My understanding of the question was that it had to do with accreditation and the visit of the Medical Council to Bahrain. Therefore, the thrust of our presentation is about accreditation. I am not an advocate nor an apologist in any way for the government or country of Bahrain, but some credit must given to the country. If one looks at the UN human development index, Bahrain ranks 84th out of 148 countries. It is ahead of some European countries. It has a better immunisation rate than we do. It offers free primary care and free education up to university level; therefore, in some ways, it has made a awful lot of progress and is an exemplar in the region.
On the points made about the hospitals being militarised, my colleague, Professor Finucane, has worked in Bahrain and could certainly talk more eloquently about that issue. Throughout the Middle East, it is not unusual for a significant part of the public health service to be delivered through either military or police hospitals. There are three public hospitals in Bahrain - Salmaniya Medical Complex, the Bahrain Defence Force, BDF, Hospital and King Hamad University Hospital. Salmaniya Medical Complex is and has always been run by the Ministry of Health. The BDF was a military hospital. It caters for members of the military and their families and the wider local population. For example, it hosts the national heart institute. Again, it has always catered for it. As is common in most countries during the development of a major new public hospital, there was considerable outrage and frustration in Bahrain caused by the delays in commissioning King Hamad University Hospital. Long before any of the events that took place in 2011, out of frustration, the Government of Bahrain asked the military which had a significant record in project management and engineering experience to step in and run the hospital. The military has opened the hospital which has 312 beds successfully and my understanding is that over time it plans to hand it over to the Ministry of Health. In any country, including this one, public hospitals are the bedrock of clinical education and, by their nature, run by the government.
Moving to the issue of jobs, we have said repeatedly that our first responsibility is to ensure our teaching and clinical education environment are non-sectarian and that is certainly the case. Our next responsibility is to secure internships for our medical graduates. Since 2010 only one Bahraini graduate has failed to secure an internship. That individual has repeated the examinations, following which we will work on securing an internship. There is no doubt that there has been considerable polarisation of the medical profession. When people fail to secure a job, it is difficult to determine why they failed to get it. Is it a question of qualifications or other issues? Not that long ago in Dublin hospitals were characterised as Protestant or Catholic and people would frequently interpret appointments to them against that background, regardless of whether it was right or wrong to do so.
The RCSI has repeatedly and publicly endorsed the findings of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry. We welcomed its findings and publicly requested that clemency be shown to the arrested medic and that they be released. We have continued to advocate in private. My view is that different organisations and individuals have different responsibilities and opportunities. Our responsibility is to our students and staff. Our opportunity is to continue to engage with very senior officials in Bahrain - an opportunity many others in Ireland do not have. We use this opportunity best by maintaining contact and continuing to advocate for just outcomes, which is what we have done.
The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry commented on the issue of medical neutrality and made the point that what had happened in Salmaniya Medical Complex was so complex it could not make a judgment on it. It was a very substantial report based on 8,000 presentations and interviews carried out by an international panel that was beyond reproach. It is very difficult, therefore, to give a truly neutral medical view on what happened in Bahrain. No doubt, the profession is polarised and it will take time to heal the wounds. The RCSI provides a valuable bridge in bringing about dialogue and healing these wounds.
Taking into account the Chairman's statement at the beginning, I am loath to comment on individuals and will not do so, but Professor Tom Collins who resigned as president is a highly respected and valued colleague and a dear friend. He resigned because of frustration at the lack of progress in organising a conference on medical professionalism involving MSF, the WHO, the United Nations and local participants. I can understand this and do not think Professor Collins would mind me quoting him. He has consistently been positive about the presence of the university as an agent for good. Having met many members of the opposition, he is often quoted as saying he has yet to meet a member of the opposition who wishes RCSI Bahrain was not there. He is uniformly positive about the university and a huge supporter of the students and would be very distressed by anything that endangered their opportunities or undermined the quality of the programme provided.
We have always acknowledged human rights problems and supported the findings of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, as has the Bahraini Government. The government showed great courage in commissioning the report. As ever, there is a frustration at the delays in processing the recommendations, but progress is being made.
In terms of there being some sense of shame or undermining the reputation of Ireland, the RCSI has graduated 20,000 alumni all over the world. The leader of the Chairman's own party has frequently told me that when he has been to foreign parts, the association is frequently an RCSI graduate. Our graduates have opened doors to Irish business and other institutions all over the world. What we are doing is the very definition of soft power. We have demonstrated that when the going gets tough, an Irish institution does not cut and run but recognises its primary responsibility to students and graduate health care professionals to contribute to health care in the country in which it is operating. I am very proud of this. I am really proud of the achievements of our students and the work and commitment of our staff.
I hope I have addressed some of the issues raised.