Results 7,161-7,180 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: We accept medical graduates from what appears to be a random group of countries, including those from one African country, one Asian country and the other EU member states. It is the EU countries plus a handful of other countries. Do the same rules apply in dentistry or is it the case that dentists from outside the EU must pass the Medical Council tests?

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Minister.

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: That is a substantial query on the nature of the Bill. These amendments are correcting typographical errors.

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: I have a similar question on section 15. The group of amendments includes the only amendment to section 15. Can I ask the question now or should I wait until we reach section 15?

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: The new right for healthcare professionals to appeal minor sanctions is very welcome. It was certainly a peculiar situation when a person could have a finding made against him or her with no recourse to appeal so that is welcome. I am concerned that section 15 sets the High Court as the place for the person to go, including, I believe, for quite minor sanctions. The High Court is very...

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: Why is a lower court not considered suitable? Was this looked at? We have probably all dealt with cases where healthcare professionals have had their lives destroyed by the HSE. I have dealt with more than one case where it was done intentionally, vindictively and wrongly. I have seen good people who had done nothing wrong, some of whom were what we would now class as whistleblowers,...

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: I am not looking for further clarity. I am looking for a better answer. I accept the Minister of State's point. It is a semantic point and I know the Minister of State is not trying to play with words. When I say "minor sanction" I am talking about a minor finding, because there can be a finding where the Medical Council of Ireland says a person has committed gross misconduct and has been...

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: This raises the issue of non-specialists being accepted onto specialist registers. It is referred to in several times in the Bill, including in section 86, and I will address the totality of the issue. There is a serious issue in this county with non-specialists working in specialist posts. In layperson's language, non-consultants are working as consultants. In some cases, they do not...

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, that is fine. I thank the Minister of State.

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: I will not repeat what I said earlier. This is a serious issue. Will the Minister of State repeat, if he would not mind, the sentence in which he stated what the doctors involved do not have?

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: If they do not have the specified qualifications, why would we give them the opportunity to register as consultants? That is a concern. Why are those who do not have the specified qualifications not told to get them and not supported in doing so? When they get them, they can go through the same procedure as everybody else. Why are we creating an exception for this group?

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: No. I am more confused now. The Minister of State said they did not have the specified qualifications, but he then said they did have the specified qualifications, training and experience. Which is it?

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: I am sorry to cut across, but this is relevant. The understanding at the start was that they just did not apply, although they could have done so, but the Minister of State is now saying they were not eligible. Can we have clarity as to which it is because it matters?

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: It seems reasonable if that is all that is involved, but it runs contrary to my understanding of what was said initially. I heard initially that this group does not have the requisite qualifications. I can support the explanation the Minister of State has given just now, namely that they did not bother, they forgot or were too busy saving lives. Had they applied in that five-year window,...

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: Will the same bar be applied to this 30 or 40 who are left as was applied during the five-year period?

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: The bar will not be lower.

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: Okay, I am fine with that.

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: Is the next session at noon?

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: The IMO expressed concerns about section 103. It questioned whether it made sense for proceedings to be held in camerauntil adverse findings were made, at which point the whole thing would be made public. I am of two minds about this because we want as much transparency as possible. The IMO's concern is that for practitioners against whom vexatious or well-intentioned but unsubstantiated...

Select Committee on Health: Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Stephen Donnelly: It does. I thank the Minister of State.