Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy rightly said, there is nothing new in regard to consent in this Bill that does not already exist in the Irish health service. It will be based entirely on the document, Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners, because it is the job of the Medical Council to regulate this area. It is not directly my job and it is certainly not the job of this legislation. Page 15 of that document sets out the general consent principles which the Deputy does not need me to go through because he is familiar with them, but under section 10 it specifically refers to the capacity to consent. Obviously, the capacity to consent test, if I may call it that, would be the same. It also contains a section on children and young people and how to interpret consent, which we discussed yesterday, with the basic principle being that if one is under the age of 16, one will need a parent to consent on one's behalf. As the Chairman outlined to us yesterday, there are situations where if there were family difficulties or very difficult situations, that would have to be reported to the appropriate authorities and could be dealt with through those as well. The HSE already has a consent policy, and I would be more than happy to share further details on that with the Deputy in advance of Report Stage. Regarding the principle of consent in the Bill, as the Deputy has acknowledged, there is no difference here other than the normal consent principles that apply.