Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 604: To ask the Minister for Health if Ireland will sign up to Article 5 of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15626/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Ireland is not in a position to sign the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine for the time being. There are a range of policy issues that need to be considered in order to inform a decision on whether Ireland should become a signatory to the Convention. Until these issues have been resolved, it is not possible to say when, or if, the Convention will be signed by Ireland.

However, as Article 5 of the Convention deals with consent, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that in 2011 the HSE Quality and Patient Safety Directorate established a National Consent Advisory Group with broad stakeholder representation to develop an overarching consent policy and supporting documentation, which will include national guidelines. It is anticipated that the policy will be available in the latter part of 2012.