James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These amendments deal with the issue of consent, something we discussed at some length on Committee Stage. This issue was addressed in section 16, which clearly states that the provisions of the Bill will operate within the existing legal provisions in regard to consent for medical procedures. The guide to professional conduct and ethics for registered medical practitioners of the Medical Council provides extensive information on the appropriate process to be followed to obtain valid informed consent for medical procedures - in fact, it contains ten pages on consent. The HSE has also recently published its national consent policy, which includes detailed information on what constitutes valid and genuine consent and how to obtain it. The capacity legislation, to which Deputy Naughten referred, will be published next week. Therefore, I do not propose to accept these amendments.

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