Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The nature of unforeseen consequences is that it is difficult for me to say that they will arise. We have to endeavour, as with all of the healthcare professions, to make sure they are well regulated, well supported, feature continuous professional development as part of that and that we as legislators make sure that the regulators – the professional bodies and training bodies – have what they need to ensure patient safety and quality. It does not mean that there will not be issues. I can get the numbers but I think there were about 55 complaints to CORU about individuals in the regulated professions annually over the last few years. There will always be cases where patients want to voice concerns to the regulator. We just need to make sure that the right processes are in place to respond to that.