Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Senator Henry rightly says that an "approved medical officer" is defined as someone practising in the State because it imports the conditions set out in the definition of "consultant psychiatrist" in section 2 of the Mental Health Act 2001. Those conditions include a person who is employed by a health board or by an approved centre or whose name is entered in the division of psychiatry of the register of medical specialists maintained by the Medical Council in Ireland. Where the term "approved medical officer" is used in the Bill, it means a person who complies with all of these conditions. The term "consultant psychiatrist" on the other hand, is not defined for the purposes of the Bill, hence it does not carry with it any of the conditions I have mentioned. It is not so limited. It can mean a person practising in this field outside the State.