Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

Tá áthas orm teacht isteach anseo anocht chun labhairt ar son Bille an Fhreasúra seo; caithifimid a admháil gurb iad a thóg é chun an Tí.

I am somewhat surprised that professional indemnity insurance is not mandatory. One assumes when one goes to a doctor that he or she has professional indemnity cover. When the Bill goes to Committee Stage I would like the committee to consider the ups and downs and pros and cons of the solicitors' professional indemnity system because it seems to be causing some difficulties. I believe that some solicitors are calling for the removal of the compulsion to carry insurance. I suppose this is for reasons of cost and because of the way insurance has gone and voluntary schemes have operated. That is not a runner and will not happen. It is essential that every professional is appropriately insured.

While scandals and crises arise in hospitals caused by one doctor or because the system has caused wrongdoing, such as the examples Deputy Dooley cited and some in my constituency, it is important to remember that mistakes will happen to the best doctors and professionals. That is why insurance exists. I have noticed an unjustifiable level of outrage in certain isolated cases of negligence. We and the public must accept that professionals will never get absolutely everything right and mistakes will be made. That is why they have insurance and I am glad that this Bill is being put forward to force doctors to carry insurance.

It is an important aspect of practice to give people confidence that if anything goes wrong one is insured. In my experience as a solicitor it was very important that one posted one's insurance certificate on the wall in the practice, outlining the level of insurance available, to give clients confidence. If one's insurance was not high enough one could tell one's clients that one could not do a transaction. Maybe some of the problems being discussed in other professions would not have arisen if the terms and conditions of insurance had been adhered to and clients been made aware of it.

I am slightly concerned that the Bill leaves a lot to the Medical Council although we do that anyway. It is crucial that the council always has the interest of the patients and the doctors at heart. This is in a doctor's interest too. There has been controversy about doctors who fly in to carry out certain procedures, particularly plastic surgery. More comprehensive regulation may be required.

This is a welcome Bill. It is very short and sensible and I am sure the Select Committee on Health and Children will debate it quickly and it will be made law. For most doctors it will presumably make no difference whatsoever but it is necessary to ensure that 100% of the public can have confidence in doctors.

It is a good that the Government is accepting the Bill because there has been some legitimate criticism of the Government's failure to accept certain Bills on which it had agreed. There is at the same time a duty on the Opposition not to misrepresent Government legislation as happened recently, particularly with the NAMA Bill and there was another example of that today. It works both ways and I am glad to see the Government accepting this Bill.

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