Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will go through that in a moment. I am in agreement with the intention behind the amendment, and there is work taking place. I just cannot accept the amendment in the context of this Bill, and I will explain why. However, this is a matter on which we need to work.

My Department is consulting the Dental Council of Ireland to identify the steps needed to support mandatory continuing professional development. It is something we are going to do and the Department and the Dental Council of Ireland are in discussions. It is important to note that such a requirement obviously has employment impacts for the HSE and private dental practices. I acknowledge the value of the proposed amendment and broadly agree with it. I appreciate the amendment is coming from the members' organisation. There are several reasons I just cannot accept the amendment now. One of the reasons is timing. We have to pass this Bill very soon because we want to bring UK-based medical graduates into the HSE in July. Much more work is required. We would have to bring the legislation back. We would have to amend it in the Seanad and come back before the Dáil. A lot more work would be required to get this to the place it needs to be brought. With the best will in the world, it would not be possible to do that by July and we would miss the chance to bring in the UK-trained interns, which we want to do.

There are some technical issues with the amendment, as one would expect. That is nothing out of the ordinary. There are issues in respect of compatibility with the current Dentists Act, which we would be able to iron out through the offices of the Attorney General and the Chief State Solicitor. One of the areas at issue relates to fitness to practise.

I earlier referenced the new EU directive on proportionality which would apply in this situation because we are talking about regulating a profession. The measures proposed in the amendment, which I agree with, impose a restriction on practise and, therefore, fall within the scope of the directive. It requires public consultation and useful but substantial new steps. That will take a little bit of time to do. We would not be able to enact the Bill within the time we need to do so. Even if the directive did not require pausing the Bill, which it would, my officials would need time to determine exactly what system of continuous professional development is appropriate and which we would, therefore, be referencing in the legislation.

I am open to engaging in an ongoing discussion on continuous professional development. As I said, it is something that is actively being progressed by the Department. It is just not there yet but I would very much like to come back-----

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