Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 22, to delete lines 36 to 39.

This refers to the same issue of ministerial control.

When we talked this morning, it was clear that An Bord Altranais, which is responsible for nursing and midwifery training, will remain independent, as will the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council, which looks after the training of paramedics and ambulance staff. Even some of the bodies the Minister is talking about such as An Bord Altranais, the Royal Irish Academy, the Health Information Quality Authority and the Independent Hospitals Association of Ireland, all have boards of management with limited powers as well. The Minister is hell-bent on radically changing the Medical Council and not just as regards self-regulation and making it a lay majority. She is making quite radical changes as well as regards training.

There is a need for many of the changes, but like the competence assurance issue, the Minister is still unsure as to how this will work, apart from the fact she admitted on Committee Stage that it could take up to five years to achieve. That means, in order to root out individuals who must be watched as regards their competence, this will take quite some time. There should be faster ways of doing that. Even as regards education and training, words such as co-operation, collaboration and co-ordination tend to proliferate. Regardless of what changes are being proposed, care must be taken, especially when training bodies for doctors and dentists are being subsumed into the HSE in the manner the Minister is doing. The HSE has not covered itself in glory in its two years in existence. There is a need for far greater clarity and it is missing in this legislation.

As regards these amendments, since they were not accepted on Committee Stage, I shall withdraw them.

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