Seanad debates

Thursday, 25 November 2004

Health and Social Care Professionals Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed).

 

2:00 pm

Mary Henry (Independent)

I was concerned at the looseness of these committees. We should at least state what constitutes a quorum, in case a couple of people were deciding on extremely important issues to do with a person's livelihood. It might have been wise to state the minimum size of a committee because there is nothing more important than the disciplinary committees. I am not hung up on the size of the committee, but we should state the minimum size as well as a quorum. Nothing could be more important for someone on a register than coming before a disciplinary committee. To find that it might be two people and that there is nothing in the legislation to state that that cannot be the case is a poor idea.

I would like the Minister of State to elaborate on this section. My amendment states that the committee should consist of at least nine members, while the quorum should be five. That is quite a large number, but we are trying to ensure that one third of them are registrants. That is not possible with seven as we would end up with part of a person. A little more delineation is required to ensure that we have set up a suitable committee in fairness to the person that has to go before it. I am particularly anxious about the fact that the committee could be very small. There is nothing in the legislation that states that a committee of two cannot sit.

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