I beg leave to introduce a Bill "to authorise the General Council established by the Medical Acts to continue to exercise jurisdiction and authority under those Acts in respect of medical practitioners in Saorstát Eireann." As this Bill arises in peculiar circumstances, and as the passage of the Bill will necessarily have to be hastened, it may be advisable that I should make one or two remarks on it. The General Medical Council had been set up under the Medical Acts, and had been in operation here, and it was believed that its operations had been continued by the accumulated effect of the Articles of the Constitution and the Adaptation of Enactments Act passed early in the life of the Dáil. It has been found, however, that owing to certain action being taken on the other side the scope of the authority of the General Medical Council is believed to no longer extend to this country, and that fact, if it is now established, has this repercussion, that certain medical men registered or purported to be registered since 1922, may not in fact be legally registered; and in order to validate these people, and in order to continue the existence of the General Medical Council until such time as the medical profession here, in conjunction with the Government or under the supervision of the Government, have had time to establish a Council of their own, this Bill is necessary.
The effect of this matter and the contention raised about it by the English medical authorities were not raised here until recently; and as quickly as possible attempts were made to have the problem solved. It has been found, however, that the only reasonable approach in the circumstances is to continue the authority of the General Medical Council and the operation of the Medical Acts in the Saorstát for a temporary period. That period is limited by the Bill to one year, during which time it is believed there will be a chance, and there will certainly be an opportunity of considering the matter —of considering whether it ought to be possible to have a proper authority established for the country, either separate from or having full reciprocity with the other side or something less than full reciprocity. I should like to urge on the Dáil the urgency of this Bill. The Bill, if leave be given to introduce it, will be in the hands of Deputies almost immediately, and if it could be treated as a matter of urgency —and I put that to you, sir—it would be advisable to have the stages taken as quickly as possible in order to ensure the passage of the Bill before the Dáil rises. It will have to be presented to the Seanad in time to have their assent to it, if they wish to give it their assent, before they adjourn.