Brendan Ryan (Labour)

One of the conditions set out in section 14 is that a person must satisfy the council that he or she is fit to be a registered pharmacist. That condition is additional to the requirements on qualifications. Does the council have to observe the tenets of the Equal Status Act 2000 in its determination of whether a person is fit to practise? I am simply trying to understand the meaning of this provision. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service will not accept blood donations from gay men simply because of their sexual orientation, which is of considerable annoyance to many gay men who know they are in perfect health. What is to prevent the council from deciding that having gay men working as pharmacists is too great a risk to take? Does the Equal Status Act apply?