Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

There is a case to be made for a defibrillator system across Ireland and regulating the circumstances under which people would be liable for the use of such equipment. That is a good point but it is not what the Bill is about. The Bill is a wide brush that states the standard of care due from a doctor to a patient varies by reference to whether the patient is on the doctor's list. That is a new concept and I would like to hear if the medical profession is content with it.

Is a person summoned or called to provide services or assistance for payment or reward if he is simply paid to be somewhere? Is a salary cheque for a doctor in a medical centre payment or reward? Is that what the Bill is designed to comprehend, that someone paid to be a nurse in a shopping centre owes a higher duty of care to someone he or she finds falling down stairs than a nurse who happens to come by?

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