Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Not yet, but I am addressing all the amendments in this group. I am also advised that from a legal point of view it is also very important that there is consistency between all sections of the Bill in order to not cause unintended consequences in the way the Bill is interpreted. The important aspect of the requirement set out in the Bill is that medical practitioners providing the service and the women accessing it are as clear as possible as to how a medical practitioner is expected to reach the reasonable opinion formed in good faith.

It is my opinion, heavily informed by the legal advice I have received, that to remove this requirement would result in a lessening of clarity around the process, potentially causing undue confusion for both medical practitioners and women. I would also refer the House to the Hubert court case in Scotland. That was a situation where there were pre-signed batches of forms and it caused significant legal difficulty in another jurisdiction. Considering this is Committee Stage, I respectfully ask the House that we engage on these amendments and I will share as much information as possible with Members who have an interest in this. I accept fully Senator Higgins's point that many Senators have an interest. It was the same in the other House. My own view was that it would be desirable to change the wording but what I am not going to do in this Bill is take any risk in respect of legal or clinical clarity. I am not going to put in words that are definitely preferable to me, in respect of wanting to be more inclusive and consultative, but do provide potential for confusion or lack of clarity.

I also need to refer people to the Medical Council guidelines. We debate and pass legislation and set out law in this House. What happens then is that the Medical Council, which regulates doctors and not me, takes that law and interprets it in respect of putting in place its own guide to professional conduct and ethics for registered medical practitioners. The Medical Council is the body that can sanction doctors, can strike off doctors and it is the body that sets out the standards to which our clinicians are expected to adhere. I refer the House to pages 16 and 17 of those guidelines. There is an entire section on information for patients. It clearly outlines the importance of consulting and hearing the voice of the patient. I accept that has not happened enough in the Irish health service. I cannot disagree with anything Senator Higgins has said.

I must, however, appeal to the interested Senators, considering this is Committee Stage, to engage further with my officials between now and Report Stage to try to make sure we get this right and that we are satisfied from a legal and medical point of view. Nobody in this House wants to put one word into, take one word out of or change one word in this Bill that could cause any legal confusion. I have to honest with Senators. It can be seen from my actions, and the fact this was not in my original Bill, that there is a reason that I put this in and that reason was based on legal advice.