Minister for Health launches Public Consultation on the Proportionality of the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill

Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill T.D., has today launched a public consultation on the proportionality of proposed legislative amendments by the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill. This Bill includes amendments to a number of Acts which underpin the regulation of health and social care professionals, medical practitioners, nurses, midwives and pharmacy owners.

The Proportionality Test Directive (EU) 2018/958, which became part of Irish law in 2022, asks governments to make sure that any new or updated rules for regulated professions are fair, reasonable, and not overly restrictive. This consultation is about getting feedback on whether the proposed changes meet those standards.

Within this public consultation, one of the key proposed changes aims to enhance the efficiency of fitness to practise processes within both the Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). These improvements will help ensure robust protection of the public, while enabling complaints to be investigated and resolved in a more timely and effective manner.

In addition, to support the expansion of the role of Health and Social Care Professionals in specific clinical areas in the future, the amendments will enable CORU’s registration boards to set standards for and approve post-registration training programmes linked to specific activities that are considered to carry particular risks to the public—such as referring for x-rays. Registrants who hold the additional competencies to perform such activities may apply to have this highlighted on their registration so that the public are aware of the competence of the practitioner to perform the activity.

The Bill also proposes several other operational, technical and consequential amendments aimed at improving the overall efficiency of the legislation.

Information on the public consultation, including how to take part, is available here.

Notes

The Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill provides for amendments to the following Acts:

• The Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005
• The Medical Practitioners Act 2007
• The Nurses and Midwives Act 2011
• The Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) Amendment Act 2020

Proportionality Test Directive: The Proportionality Test Directive 2018/958 which was transposed into Irish law in August 2022 (SI 413/2022), requires Member States to examine the proportionality of any professional regulations that are amending or introducing new measures that may restrict access to or pursuit of a regulated profession. As the Bill is proposing to amend existing regulatory provisions in these Acts, a proportionality test to examine the amendments is being carried out. As part of this test, a public consultation is being conducted to seek the views of interested parties on the proportionality of relevant amendments.