Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

No doubt it is good advice. To what extent has experience with existing and far from satisfactory regulatory bodies such as the Medical Council been taken into account? There is much experience to draw on and I am interested in what the Minister of State will say in this regard.

I will reserve a detailed consideration of the Bill, as we will have an opportunity to do so during subsequent Stages. The general framework is acceptable. However, my major reservation is that all appointees to the health and social care professionals council are to be ministerial choices. Sinn Féin Deputies have repeatedly raised this issue over many Bills. Once again it looms large in this Bill. The 25 members of the health and social care professionals council are all to be appointed by the Minister for Health and Children. The registration boards of the professions concerned will nominate 12 people. The nine to represent the interest of the public will be nominated by no one but the Minister for Health and Children.

It is interesting that the term "the consent of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment" has been added to this provision. Perhaps the Minister of State will explain that particular addendum. My own suspicion is that it is there because the view prevails in Government that people accessing professional health care are consumers of commercial services rather than citizens with rights to proper health services. Whatever the reason — I look forward to the explanation — the representation for the public is inadequate and should be changed. On Second Stage, I commend a revisitation of that proposed configuration to the Minister of State.

As other Deputies have noted in the course of this debate, I have also been lobbied by bodies representing physiotherapists and physical therapists, and clearly there is a dispute between them about the name and nature of their respective professions. From the material submitted by these groups, it is clear that there is a dispute about basic facts. Only yesterday, I received a further missive from the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists. The dispute is about such critical issues as training and, indeed, the qualification of physical therapists. Perhaps this Bill is not the place to resolve this complex issue. The Bill reflects a recognition of both, which is meritorious, but clearly as there is a serious disputation, I suggest that the Department consider initiating discussions between the groups in pursuit of agreement on how they can work in harmony and for the public benefit. If at the end of that process this Bill requires amendment, in any way reflective of that engagement, let that be done.

Broadly, however, it is in the interests of both sets of professions and in the wider public interest that this disputation is put to rest. Some form of mediation is necessary and the Minister and the Department should consider what role they can play in helping the two sets of protagonists to come to a peaceful and harmonious conclusion to their dispute. I look forward to the opportunity to address some of the detail in later Stages of the debate.

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