Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 5, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

"Definition of medical assessor and consequential amendments

3. (1) Section 2(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following definitions:" 'employment agency' has the same meaning as it has in the Employment Agency Act 1971;

'medical assessor' means—

(a) an officer of the Minister who is a registered medical practitioner,

or

(b) such other person who is a registered medical practitioner—

(i) engaged by the Minister under a contract for services or otherwise, or

(ii) employed by an employment agency under a contract of employment (within the meaning of the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012), to provide medical services to the Minister;".

(2) The Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 46(1)(b)(iv) (amended by section 5 of the Act of 2007), by the substitution of "an officer of the Minister or a medical assessor" for "an officer of the Minister",

(b) in section 46D(1)(a)(iii) (inserted by section 12 of the Act of 2010), by the substitution of "an officer of the Minister or a medical assessor" for "an officer of the Minister",

(c) in section 91(1)(d)(iii) (amended by section 11 of the Act of 2007), by the substitution of "an officer of the Minister or a medical assessor" for "an officer of the Minister",

(d) in section 118(3)(d) (amended by section 16 of the Act of 2007), by the substitution of "an officer of the Minister or a medical assessor" for "an officer of the Minister",

(e) in section 186B, by the deletion of the definition of "medical assessor" (inserted by section 26 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010),

(f) in section 186C (amended by section 26 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010), by the deletion of subsections (2) and (3), and (g) in section 212(1)(d) (amended by section 26 of the Act of 2007), by the substitution of "an officer of the Minister or a medical assessor" for "an officer of the Minister".(3) In subsection (2) "Act of 2007" means the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007.".

These amendments provide for a new definition of the term "medical assessment" for the purposes of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 and for a number of consequential amendments and clarify the role of the medical assessor in the social welfare decision-making process. The purpose of the amendments is to facilitate the provision of medical assessors