Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take amendments Nos. 19 to 21, inclusive, and Nos. 31 to 33, inclusive, together.The Bill as passed by the Dáil amended the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and Nurses and Midwives Act 2011 to provide that subcommittees of the preliminary proceedings committee, PPC, and the fitness to practice committee, FTPC, are established pursuant to rules. These subcommittees can perform any of the functions of the respective committee as if they are the committee. This was aimed at better utilising the time of both the PPC and FTPC and facilitating the more expeditious processing of complaints.

The amendments brought forward today provide additional clarity on the procedures for the establishment of these subcommittees. Specifically, they provide that the chairperson or such other committee member as may be designated by rules can establish a subcommittee of the respective committee. As drafted, the provision could be interpreted as meaning the entire committee is required to establish a subcommittee. These amendments remove any risk of ambiguity or uncertainty around the mechanism for establishing subcommittees and I ask Senators to support them.