Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take amendments Nos. 32 to 34, inclusive, and 56 to 58, inclusive, together.

The Bill as passed by the House amends the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011 to provide that where subcommittees of the preliminary proceedings committee, PPC, and the fitness to practise committee, FPC, are established pursuant to rules, these subcommittees can perform any of the functions of the respective committees as if they were the committees. This was aimed at better utilising the time of both the PPC and the FPC and facilitating the more expeditious processing of complaints. This will be of benefit to all those involved, patients, their families and practitioners. The amendments provide additional clarity regarding the procedures for the establishment of those subcommittees. Specifically, they provide that, in accordance with the rules, the chairperson or such other committee members as may be designated by rules can establish a subcommittee of the respective committee.

As drafted, the provision could be interpreted as meaning that the entire committee is required to establish a sub-committee. These amendments remove any risk of ambiguity or uncertainty around the mechanism for establishing sub-committees.

See this speech in context