Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 12, to delete lines 5 to 9 and substitute the following:“(4) (a) The Minister shall put in place measures to ensure that an individual’s individual health identifier will be made know to him or her as of right (or, in the case of a deceased individual, to be made know to the individual’s personal representative).”.

I have invested such goodwill with the Minister this morning that I am hoping we will get a point at least, if not a goal. I seek to change the word "may" to "shall". Section 5(4)(a) states: "The Minister may put in place measures, or cause to be put in place measures, that the Minister considers appropriate to assist in enabling an individual’s individual health identifier to be made known to him or her...". I am unsure why the amendment as it appears in the amendment list has "know" and "know" rather than "known" and "known". I hope it was not my typographical error in submitting it, but my amendment should read "known" and "known".
The key change is that we move from "may" to "shall". I believe it should be done and that each individual should know his individual health identifier. That is critical. I hope that the change is self-evident and that the Minister will accept it because the knowledge of our respective numbers is crucial. I can envisage situations where that knowledge would be critical in a raft of settings. I urge the Minister's acceptance of amendment No. 9 on that basis.