Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I confirm that, as Senators Henry and Glynn suggested, the Minister cannot give the Medical Council any directions on ethical issues. The council's ethics committee will have a majority of doctors, rather than a majority of lay people. It can be chaired by a lay person, however — it was once chaired by Senator Feeney. Dr. Deirdre Madden, who was recently elected as the chair of the council's ethics committee, is a lawyer and scientist rather than a medical practitioner. While the ethics committee can be chaired by lay people, most of its members are doctors.