Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Senator said, it is an important section, which provides that an apology by a medical practitioner is not to constitute an admission of liability or invalidation of insurance. It is a key plank of this innovation and was very strongly recommended by the working group report on this issue.It is also mirrored in several other common law jurisdictions. For obvious reasons, the Minister for Health was extremely keen from the point of view of patients and having more efficient legal processes that we would succeed in getting this into the Bill. The Attorney General and her staff worked very hard in recent times to ensure we got this into the Bill. It is a strength to have it in there and it will be very helpful.

It takes the fear of litigation out of the giving, at an early stage, of an apology or the expression of regret. We have seen many cases recently where this has been an issue. It makes a difference to the patients, the clients, the people concerned and the medical professionals who have often been caught in an adversarial situation where they did not have the option to do this. I think this now clarifies that and is very much in line with the working group report.