Vol. 539 No. 1
232 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason for the delay in appointing a new lay member to the Medical Council following the resignation of one of the four lay members; and the further reason he has not responded to a letter sent to him in April 2001 on the matter. [18622/01]
My Department received notification of the resignation in April and since then the matter has been under careful consideration. As the Deputy is aware, when making appointments to State boards I must have regard to the statutory constraints and the need to ensure that as wide a variety of appropriate interests as possible are represented in their composition. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I have now appointed a lay member to the board in accordance with the regulations under the Medical Practitioners Act, 1978.
In relation to the letter referred to by the Deputy, the matter was still under consideration and hence I was unable to respond at that time.
