Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

Like Senator Quinn, I also see merit in Senator Henry's amendment, which I support. The Medical Council believes it would be unacceptable for anyone other than a medically trained person to issue a medical report. That is not being done to get jobs for doctors, but in the interest of the public to ensure safe practice and to maintain high standards. Senator Henry has been led to believe we may have to accept reports from chiropractors, physical therapists and acupuncturists, which worries me. For the reasons she outlined, we have no knowledge of their training or the standards they maintain. Importantly, the public does not know there is no regulatory body governing practitioners such as these and people do not realise there is no comeback for them when things go drastically wrong, as they do in some cases. The patient is the last to know these people are unregulated.

I understand what Senator Henry is trying to achieve in this amendment. However, I heard what the Tánaiste said about this in the House yesterday and I believe there is goodwill and she will try to do something about it. I do not know whether I am out of order in saying this but it would be useful to include this in the list of amendments to be dealt with in the other House so we can have a provision to cover this jurisdiction, the EU and countries outside the EU. There are regulatory bodies comparable to the Medical Council in every other country. I cannot see this posing a problem in most cases, but for the one or two cases that might come from outside the country it would be as well to have this provision bedded down. I support my colleagues, Senators Henry and Quinn, in the amendment.