Medics worried over new proposals

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has said the hearings by the Medical Council must be conducted in private, in continuation of the present practice, which is against the recent proposal that will mandate a public hearing in specific circumstances. The new recommendations will also empower the minister with additional charge over appointments and control of the council.

Further, the IHCA is not in favor of giving the minister the power to appoint all 25 members of the Council, which includes the power to dismiss the council and to steer it with respect to a specific policy. The new recommendations have suggested that the members of the medical profession be allowed to elect their counterparts to the council, but the number has to be restricted to 7 , unlike the previous ten. The proposals also state that the President and Vice-President of the Council be Medical Doctors.