Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I apologise for taking up the Minister of State's time as I realise he has been waiting all evening.

I refer to the issue of compulsory insurance for medical practitioners, an issue on which I published a Private Members' Bill which was debated in the House in January. At the time I was advised by the Department and know it has some other urgent issues on its cards. This matter was raised in 2009 by the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, and at that stage the Department stated it would be dealt with by January 2010.

I have been in contact with people practising in the area of cosmetic surgery who are very concerned about a number of incidents, in respect of which they are not satisfied there was adequate medical insurance cover. I have also come across a case and was advised by a legal colleague involved in the litigation that the medical practitioner in question had admitted he was not covered by insurance. This issue must be resolved. As I noted in the debate referred to, I cannot practise as a solicitor without insurance. The Minister of State cannot drive a car without insurance, yet we have GPs who have no legal obligation to have insurance. Concern is growing that because people currently face many financial pressures, they may start to take short cuts. I am concerned this may happen also with people involved in medical practice; therefore, there is urgency attached to dealing with the matter.

I understand there may be a situation where there is inadequate insurance cover for breast implant surgery, which is also of concern. Having regard to the EU directives on the free movement of people and the provision of services, there is nothing to prevent medical personnel coming here from the United Kingdom. Although they must be registered with and work through the Medical Council, the council has no power to force any such person to have insurance. I know of one centre that closed because of the number of claims it had received, but it has reopened under another name. There is concern about that case, particularly those involved in the area of cosmetic surgery.

What progress has been made? The Bill was debated in this House. We consulted widely with the Medical Council, the IMO and the IHCA in preparing the legislation. We met representatives of the insurance industry who flew in from England to talk to us about it and took on board their amendments. There is the basis of legislation which we must deal with and expedite. Obviously, the Bill we have been debating for the past three or four hours has been given priority within the Department, but I ask that my Bill not be pushed further down the road and that we try to deal with it as soon as possible.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to inform the House of the steps being taken to address this important matter, in which he has very much taken a lead.

Mandatory indemnity cover for medical practitioners is necessary. As the Senator may be aware, in 2009 the Minister, Deputy James Reilly, then in opposition, introduced a Private Members Bill in the Dáil on the issue, but it was not enacted at the time. When he took office, he instructed the Department to commence drafting a Bill to achieve this aim. Last year the Government approved the heads of the Medical Practitioners (Professional Indemnity) (Amendment) Bill 2013, which will provide for what the Senator is proposing by way of medical indemnity insurance requirements. The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 to make it mandatory for registration purposes that all medical practitioners engaged in the practise of medicine have adequate medical indemnity insurance cover. Drafting of the Bill is at an advanced stage and officials of the Department are in consultation with the relevant stakeholders, including the Medical Council, the State Claims Agency and representatives of indemnity providers, on an ongoing basis.

Under the Bill the Medical Council will be given the power to refuse registration if a practitioner does not have adequate indemnity cover. The council will also have the power to remove a practitioner from the register where indemnity cover is not maintained. The continued maintenance of indemnity cover will be confirmed by the practitioner at the time of his or her annual retention of registration, a practice similar to provisions that obtain in other professions. It will be the responsibility of each medical practitioner to establish that he or she has the required professional indemnity.

The legislation will provide for the State Claims Agency to assist the Medical Council in setting out indicative or minimum levels of cover, having regard to the medical specialty involved and the procedures being undertaken by each medical practitioner. It is the intention that the draft legislation will be at a high or enabling level. The Medical Council will subsequently specify the necessary detail, by the provision of guidance and-or rules, in accordance with the statutory powers given to it in its establishing legislation. A key issue in the drafting process is to ensure this provision will be robust in order that the council will be empowered to ensure all registered medical practitioners will have appropriate and adequate indemnity insurance cover.

The Bill is on the A list of the Government's legislative programme for the summer 2013 parliamentary session. However, following recent meetings between officials of the Department and the Parliamentary Counsel and having regard to the issues raised by the Parliamentary Counsel at these meetings, it is now unlikely that the Bill will be finalised before the Dáil summer recess. However, it is still the intention to have the Bill finalised and published as soon as possible following the recess.

I acknowledge the contribution of the Senator in advancing the objective of having mandatory indemnity cover for practising doctors. The House will be aware that earlier this year the Senator introduced a Private Members Bill on this issue. The objective of that Bill was almost identical to the Bill being progressed and developed by my Department.

However, there were a number of important areas where the Department had some reservations on the approach being taken. Due to the many similarities in both Bills it has been arranged for Parliamentary Counsel to take account of Senator Burke's Bill in finalising the text of the Government's Bill.

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to address the House today and I would like to assure the Senator and the House that the Minister, Deputy James Reilly, is committed to bringing proposals to Government for its consideration of this matter at the earliest possible.