Results 21-40 of 1,966 for speaker:Mary Henry

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: The start date in July, which predicated the changeover on 1 January, relates to the fact that medical examinations traditionally take place in late May and early June.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: From what the Minister stated earlier — Senator Feeney also raised the matter — I am of the view that she understands the position regarding the heads of the various training bodies and how important it is that they should be involved with whatever committees the council establishes.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I am glad the Minister informed the HSE that funds will have to be put in place in respect of competence assurance. The latter is terribly important. Even if one is working within a hospital, one can become very isolated in one's field. Making provision in this area will involve giving people time off to attend courses. This, in turn, will lead to questions as to whether locum cover will...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: The Postgraduate Medical and Dental Board has done incredible work and has been a most useful and hardworking body. As a former member of the board, it is great to be able to praise it. I hope it will be left in situ until the new procedures to be put in place by the council are up and running. The Postgraduate Medical and Dental Board is the one body about which one never hears...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I congratulate the Minister on her tour de force and thank her officials for the work they put into this much needed legislation. I realise my profession has not been always welcoming of the Bill but I think it will work well in practice. Senator Feeney wisely raised the issue of non-EU graduates, who we sometimes ask to obtain letters of good standing from countries which they had to flee....

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I want to mention two points on section 17. I am pleased the Minister has stipulated in the section that, "Only registered medical practitioners are eligible for election as the President or Vice-President of the Council in accordance with Schedule 2." This is important because, while the council has to serve the public interest, it is essential it also has the confidence of the profession....

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I am pleased this register is being instituted in the council. We did not have a register like this before and it is very important. People without adequate training could describe themselves as specialists in certain areas and this will ensure that cannot happen. One has to have proper qualifications in a particular area before one can say one is a specialist.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: While I agree with section 49, a real problem will emerge regarding internships due to the increased number of medical graduates. We have a responsibility to those doctors trained in Ireland to ensure there are enough internships to fulfil their qualifications necessary before they can be registered with the council. We cannot, as used to happen in the good old days as they were described,...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: This important section allows for visiting practitioners to provide services on a temporary and occasional basis. There is no provision in the section, however, that a person providing specialist treatment, particularly cosmetic surgery, must have specialist qualifications. This concern is further heightened by the recent establishment of several cosmetic surgery clinics.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: My concern is the specialist training that these people may or may not have had.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: It is important that this is made plain to the general public. I welcome the fact that people on a specialist register must have specialist qualifications. There are medical people entering the country every several weeks to undertake complicated medical procedures. One must query their qualifications. That they do not have to have specialist qualifications must be made well-known to the...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I hope the Medical Council will make it plain that people cannot just call themselves specialists.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I praise the Minister for having said the complainant should be given information because not giving information to the complainant was a serious problem in the past.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I raised this matter previously so I will not labour the point. It concerns the hearings and stress in respect of whether they will be heard in public. I cannot understand why a person, such as a court reporter, who attends and reports on family law cases in an anonymous fashion could not report such hearings. Whatever criticism some journalists may have had of the work, I believe it...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I am glad the Minister has included a provision that evidence may be given by video link. It can frequently be difficult to get witnesses who worked in a hospital at one stage but are now based in Toronto, Tierra del Fuego or elsewhere to appear before a committee. Therefore, I am glad this provision has been included. Section 66(9)(a) provides that the records shall not be made available...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: This provision could be hard on the practitioner if he or she thought the production of a patient's records were essential.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I know that, but this is regarding a patient's records being made available, a patient not allowing his or her medical records to be made available, yet the practitioner may consider they are essential to his or her defence.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: I do not know how the practitioner can force these to be——

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: Yes.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Mary Henry: The subsection provides that the committee can direct the practitioner to act, but that could put the practitioner in an awkward position.