Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I noted the Minister's comments on the issue of conscientious objection, an issue we raised on Committee Stage. I questioned this issue on Committee Stage and the Minister gave the clarification that he has just given to the House. On foot of that, I contacted the INMO on this issue and, on foot of that, I tabled amendment No. 138.

The INMO has a different perspective on this. It has had discussions with the HSE on this issue and the right of any individual midwife, nurse or other staff member to indicate they have a conscientious objection to participate in a procedure. They have been told by HSE management that the current practice will continue to hold. The current practice is that in such a situation an individual will have an obligation to notify his or her line manager, that is, his or her department head, of his or her objection and the wish to be relieved from participating in that procedure, and there is no indication from the HSE that this standard practice will change. The standard practice at present is that the line manager would then have an obligation to facilitate the request and to find a replacement staff member to cover for that particular procedure.

The INMO further states that it would never be the situation in clinical practice that an individual staff member can find his or her replacement without recourse to his or her line manager or department head, and standard governance procedures would always insist that the department head or line manager ultimately roster staff and-or provide short-term cross-cover arrangements in any situation, but particularly in these very sensitive environments. The INMO further states that for its part, as a representative organisation representing staff, it will be insisting on the above process remaining in place subsequent to the enactment of this legislation. They state, finally, that they do not have any sense from the HSE that it intends to change the long-standing practice I outlined and they would have concerns if that long-standing practice was to change. In light of the information that I have received from the INMO which is on foot of discussions that it has had with the HSE in the context of this legislation, I ask the Minister to reconsider amendment No. 138 and make provision for it in line with current practice in the nursing profession and midwifery in the current hospital system.

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