Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Kelleher on this Bill. I am glad to say that Sinn Féin will support it. I have not been in this line of work for long but I am learning that a short Bill can do more than a very lengthy Bill. This is the case with this legislation. It is a good and fair idea that medical practitioners declare any income or gift received from medical suppliers, pharmaceutical companies or any other source. I think Deputy Kelleher was very clear that this is not, and I do not believe, that this is meant to punish practitioners. It seeks to ensure transparency for gifts or bursaries provided to medical practitioners in order that the Medical Council and public can be aware of a situation which may arise wherein certain medical suppliers or pharmaceutical companies are overly generous, for some reason, if we can use that term. Any measure which improves transparency can only be considered progressive, especially when it comes to transparency regarding gifts, moneys etc.

Given the sensitive nature of health care, we must ensure that it is open and transparent at all times and that there is no perception of conflicts of interest. It is particularly important for the public and other medical practitioners to know that no conflicts of interest are at play. In March, Deputy Kelleher said that he tabled this Bill because some eminent clinicians had come to him and expressed concern that the issue of pharmaceutical companies interacting with clinicians and supporting them in a meaningful way is becoming more pervasive not only in this country but across the western world. I agree with Deputy Kelleher, and since this Bill passed First Stage, a number of clinicians have raised concerns about the granting of gifts as a possible problem with regard to medical suppliers and pharmaceutical companies. There need to be clear lines of demarcation and no overlapping or greying of ethical barriers critical to health care. The fact that this is being supported and driven by medical practitioners themselves is worth noting. Health care must be administered in an ethical manner where there is trust between both parties.

Both Sinn Féin and I support this Bill and its aims. However, we will seek clarity in areas on Committee Stage and we may seek to make some amendments, although the intention would be to improve the Bill where we can in a spirit of collaboration. A problem I have is that the amount specified is €600, but it may be the case that an individual receives multiple gifts, bursaries or whatever the term might be, each to the value of €599. We could have a problem in that regard, but I am not convinced that it is one we cannot overcome. I think it would be easy enough for us to get over that. There may be a need for some amendments, which we will table. The legislation may defeat its own purpose if gifts in excess of €600 in one year could be given as long as no single gift exceeded €600 by itself. We can keep an eye on that and, given that we all intend to work together to ensure that this can be done, I do not think that any of those problems are insurmountable. We will table amendments and work together as is appropriate.

I hope that something can be done for medical practitioners who have to attend countless conferences and purchase numerous different pieces of equipment from year to year to ensure that they do not suffer, are able to upskill and have access to the most modern equipment.

However well intentioned the pharmaceutical companies are, and nobody is ascribing anything other than an altruistic motive them, it is not acceptable that they would be funding posts within the health service or, indeed, that they fund doctors, nurses and medical practitioners to avail of important conferences that they need as part of continuing professional development, CPD. There is a role for the State in that regard and we should be supporting our clinicians and medical practitioners more.

I go back to the earlier point that this is being driven by clinicians and they would not be raising this issue in order to effectively hamper themselves. Clearly, they need access to CPD and to conferences. They need access to interaction with their peers, which is extremely important. If that is being facilitated by outside sources we need to look at how best we can support medical practitioners outside of the help that they get from pharmaceutical companies. The State will have to step up to the plate in this regard.

Overall this is a good Bill and we in Sinn Féin are happy to support it.

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