Seán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Timmins for bringing forward this Bill. The sentiments are excellent. The Good Samaritan Bill sounds like apple pie, motherhood or the flag. In theory, no one is against the Bill but in its present form it has been drafted deplorably. There are a number of very basic elements within the Bill that demonstrate the difficulties that present to people in drafting Bills. In addition, it contains errors and items we would not intend to include in legislation.

In particular, I am opposed to section 2(1), whereby a person working in the health care sector who fails to act at the site of an accident or other emergency would be liable for failing to act. I understand that in coming to the aid of a person, he or she would have to show gross negligence before being subject to liability. The other aspect of the proposed Bill to which I object is that doctors who are paid for services at the scene of an accident would have a different level of liability to doctors who are not paid. I know of many doctors who are called to the scenes of accidents, or to where people are ill, who do not charge a fee. They give their services for free out of the goodness of their own hearts.

The Bill, as proposed, could give rise to situations where doctors would be compromised in charging for their services. In many cases, the last thing on the mind of a doctor coming to the scene of an accident or emergency is whether he or she would charge a fee. The doctor's aim is to look after the victim or patient. However, in the event of something happening, a doctor may consider, in view of the good samaritan legislation, that he or she would be obliged to offer his or her services for free. Doctors may be put in a position that they would forgo payment or reward because of the potential liability of being sued under good samaritan legislation.

The Bill contains definite deficiencies in terms of making failure to act an offence and also the differentiation between——

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