Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 82: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the timeframe for a new Medical Practitioners Act; her views on the concerns raised by the Medical Council that there are no national audit figures; her further views on the fact that a doctor struck off for misconduct abroad could not also be struck off the medical register here without the council holding its own fitness to practise inquiry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21331/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Heads of Bill for a new Medical Practitioners Act are at an advanced stage of preparation. It is my intention to make the Heads of Bill available as soon as possible, in order to allow for interested parties to make comments on the proposals. These comments will then assist in the drafting of the Bill proper, which I intend to publish in the Autumn.

The concerns raised by the Medical Council in relation to audit are under consideration in my Department in the context of clinical governance and the role of the Health Information and Quality Authority.

I am informed by the Medical Council that if a doctor whose name is on the General Register of the Medical Council in Ireland is struck off for misconduct in another jurisdiction, the Medical Council can only impose a sanction following the holding of its own fitness to practise inquiry. This situation is underpinned by the Supreme Court in a judgment from 2004, which reaffirmed the constitutional rights of an accused doctor to a fair hearing. The effect of this judgment is that individual complainants must give evidence and this evidence may be cross-examined. The individual who makes the complaint must be willing to give evidence to that inquiry and, if living overseas, cannot be compelled to do so. The Medical Council informs me that it has accommodated overseas witnesses by use of video-link thus avoiding the need to travel. The Medical Council states that it cannot simply rely on the findings and transcripts of medical regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions.

I am informed by the Council that if a doctor is struck off for misconduct in another jurisdiction and then applies for registration in Ireland, the application can be refused.