Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

There is not a parent in the country who does not have enormous respect for midwives. We need to make this clear, because they are part and parcel of one of the most intimate journeys a woman will ever take. This is something we should all accept.

Deputy Ó Caoláin has an interest and in-depth knowledge of the Bill, as I know from past experience. In this Bill, for the first time ever, midwifery is now accepted as a separate profession. We now have 100 direct-entry undergraduate midwifery places. It is not just here in the House that this profession is seen as separate; people who wish to become involved in that area of health and social care also see it as a separate profession.

We do not have a board that deals entirely with nursing or with any other health care profession. What is being proposed in this Bill is a board that will deal with nursing and midwifery, which is an advance. As a consequence, we will have a midwifery committee with a majority of midwives. A board cannot have subcommittees whose decisions are binding on the board. We all agree that cannot happen, and that is why I press the amendment. I accept everything that has been said, and I respect the philosophy that informs that opinion, but we cannot have a subcommittee that can make decisions that are binding on the board. We all know that would not work. Perhaps in the future we will need to move beyond that, but it most definitely cannot work in this type of structure.

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