Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 52 is just a safeguard. One of the grounds set out in the Bill refers to testing for Covid-19. That could give carte blanche. What I am proposing is that we insert "in accordance with World Health Organisation criteria". That is a reasonable safeguard. I also support the comments made by Deputy O'Reilly. There is a significant move away from a three-person tribunal to a single-person tribunal and a person without any medical expertise. While I understand provision being made in the event of dire and severe shortages of medical personnel, it is reasonable to expect that a consultation could take place remotely. There must be medical input into a decision as serious as that. It is a reasonable safeguard in the absence of two other members of the tribunal to at least have a remote consultation and not leave that open to a situation where it is a case of whether the person is available or not. I also support amendment No. 51. I think it makes sense.

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