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

I move amendment No. 20:

In page 135, to delete lines 15 to 18.

This section proposes to amend the primary legislation, the Nurses and Midwives Act, in a manner which appears unnecessary. It is burdensome in a financial, administrative and personal respect and it will have the unintended consequence of unnecessarily exposing registrants who are suffering from illness to the glare of publicity associated with proceedings in open court. I referred already to a case in which I was personally involved. This section proposes an amendment to section 72 of the Act, which will require now that sanctions of advisement, admonishment or censure are confirmed by a court. Currently, those sanctions do not require confirmation by a court. It is not confirmation by a court that I have difficulty with but the fact that the case is made public. I am happy to listen to what the Minister has to say about how that scenario will be avoided. None of us wants to place regulated health professionals in a scenario whereby they find themselves in open court in respect of something that does not require the glare of publicity.

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