Ms Yvonne Moynihan:

Deputy McLellan asked if a layperson would be able to administer an epinephrine pen to another person. I carry one around with me and know how to use it. As members will see, if Professor Hourihane gives us a demonstration later, it is very easy to use. Moreover, a bystander who used it on somebody on the street would be protected by the Good Samaritan provision contained in section 51D of the Civil Liability Act (Amendment) 1996, as inserted by section 4 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011. Subsection 51D(1) states:

A good samaritan shall not be personally liable in negligence for any act done in an emergency when providing—(a) assistance, advice or care to a person who is—

(i) in serious and imminent danger, or apparently in serious and imminent danger, of being injured or further injured,
(ii) injured or apparently injured, or (iii) suffering, or apparently suffering, from an illness,

Subsection 51D(2) states: "The protection from personal liability conferred on a Good Samaritan by subsection (1) applies even if the emergency is caused by an act of the Good Samaritan." The only exception to this protection is "any act done by the Good Samaritan in bad faith or with gross negligence". In the case of certain categories of persons, such as teachers, a higher standard of care applies under the legislation because teachers, to use that example, have a duty of care to protect pupils from risk of injury. The only way to minimise that is to provide mandatory guidelines and set out the scope of liability.
The Deputy also asked about permission from the European Council or Commission. We already have a regulation that allows us to regulate for exceptions, namely, regulation 8 of the pharmacy regulations.

I do not see why this cannot be extended if legislated for properly. As long as each policy is dealt with clearly and comprehensively and the exceptions are set out in legislation, I do not see why we would need permission.

I refer to the comments of Deputies Healy and Byrne. I agree with Deputy Healy that change should be sooner rather than later. Following a comment that Deputy Byrne made on having already drafted the legislation, I would be willing to draft any heads of a Bill. I volunteer to offer my services to any Deputy who wishes to really make a change to this law. Deputy Byrne said we needed a policy and this is what I was referring to later. Policies can only be dealt with by primary legislation and that is why amending the regulations would not be sufficient.