Professor Jim Finucane:

It seems we have barely touched on the issue I thought we were here to discuss. We are not asking for accreditation by the Medical Council. We are asking for an evaluation of our suitability for accreditation, which is long overdue. It was promised and planned for two years ago. It is a matter of considerable concern to my colleagues and my students that I finally left in July 2013.

I was professor of medicine and chairman of the department for five years between 2008 and 2013. One of the planks on which Ceartas has sought to have this evaluation suspended is that it alleges that there has been torture of individuals within the hospitals. I was in these hospitals every working day for the five years I worked there. It is inconceivable that individuals were tortured within the precincts of these hospitals. I cannot believe there is any basis for that very serious allegation.

Is it important for our students that they do not have accreditation by the Medical Council? Yes, it is. They are being penalised as a result of this failure in some EU countries, particularly Germany and they also have difficulty in Canada from where many of our students come. We cannot make our dedicated and talented students the whipping boys for the perceived problems of the regime in Bahrain. We are there, win, lose or draw. We are stuck to it. The last thing on God's earth that would be morally acceptable would be to leave 1,000 students in the lurch.