Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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177. To ask the Minister for Health if he will legislate against medical professionals and hospitals accepting money from pharmaceutical companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40278/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Ethics in Public Office Act and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies set out legal obligations and best practice for public servants in this area. My Department wrote to the Health Service Executive on 16 November asking it to satisfy itself that health professionals and all relevant staff are familiar and operating in compliance with this legislation and to give consideration as to whether there is a need for any additional guidance in order to ensure that the public interest is safeguarded in all respects. I have also asked the HSE to undertake an assessment of existing protocols and procedures in relation to the receipt of funding or other benefits from pharmaceutical companies by its employees and the services for which it has responsibility.

In addition, the Medicinal Products (Control of Advertising) Regulations 2007 govern the advertising of medicines, and provide for a range of restrictions on gifts, hospitality and sponsorship of meetings. For example, a gift must be inexpensive and relevant to the practice of medicine or pharmacy. Hospitality must be reasonable in level, strictly limited to the main purpose or scientific objective of the event, and not extended to persons other than health professionals. Health professionals are also prohibited from soliciting or accepting any prohibited inducement, hospitality or sponsorship. Breaches of the Regulations may be prosecuted in the courts under section 32 of the Irish Medicines Board Acts 1996 and 2006.

Regulation of the medical profession is undertaken by the Medical Council, which updated its Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitionersin May 2016. While the Guide is not a legal code, it sets out the principles of professional practice and conduct that all doctors registered with the Medical Council are expected to follow.

While I await the response of the HSE on the issues I outlined earlier, there are currently no plans to further legislate on this matter.