Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for the amendments. I will take amendments Nos. 77 and 173 to 178, inclusive, and speak to them first. Then I will speak on the other amendments.

Amendments Nos. 77 and 173 to 178, inclusive, seek to replace the word "information" with the word "records" in respect of the provision of medical information. The goal of the amendments appears to be to ensure that where a person applies to receive his or her medical information, he or she is assured that he or she will receive actual copies of the relevant documents where such records are available. We cannot accept the text of the amendments as submitted here because of consistency grounds. As they are here, they will remove the fundamental entitlement to medical information. That is just the way they are drafted. However, I am in full agreement with the spirit of the amendments. The intention of this provision was always that an applicant's medical information and the records on which the person's medical information is held would be released directly to the applicant in full. As such, I am happy to accept amendments Nos. 77 and 173 to 178, inclusive, in principle and I will table amendments on Report Stage to reflect what is provided for here. This was an oversight in this section. It should have provided for access to both the information and copies of the records on which this information is based. It is because this section was originally combined with others and it has evolved over time, so I will bring forward amendments to reflect that on Report Stage.