Mary Henry (Independent)

I move amendment No. 2a:

In page 9, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following definition:–

"'medical practitioner' means a registered medical practitioner as defined by section 5 of the Medical Practitioners Act 1978".

I welcome the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to the House. The words "medical practitioner" occur in section 11(3)(c) and in section 24. Section 11(3)(c) refers to a report from the medical practitioner who is treating the patient. Section 24 refers to those people to whom the claimant may be referred if he or she or the respondent is not happy with the medical report.

I realise that section 24 allows the referral of a patient to someone who is practising outside the State. However, the Tánaiste should seriously consider section 11 and decide who can give these medical reports. When I discussed this earlier, I was told that, in general, it was expected to be the general practitioner, but if it is left as loosely worded as the "medical practitioner", the range of persons who could supply the reports could be very wide and it would not be confined to registered medical practitioners. They could also be people such as chiropractors or those involved in acupuncture, who are all very worthy but may give different types of reports from those that are expected.