No. 17/1993:

MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1993

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section

1. Definitions.

2. Amendment of section 26 of Principal Act.

3. Amendment of section 57 of Principal Act.

4. Amendment of section 17 of Act of 1978.

5. Amendment of section 23 of Act of 1978.

6. Short title and collective citation.

ACTS REFERRED TO

Number 17 of 1993

MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1993

AN ACT TO MAKE FURTHER PROVISION IN RELATION TO THE GENERAL REGISTER OF MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS ESTABLISHED UNDER THE MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS ACT, 1978 , AND PERSONS REGISTERED THEREIN AND FOR THAT PURPOSE TO AMEND THAT ACT AND CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ROAD TRAFFIC (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1978 , RELATING TO THE PERSONS AFORESAID.

[1st July, 1993]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

1.—In this Act—

"the Act of 1978" means the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act, 1978 ;

"the Principal Act" means the Medical Practitioners Act, 1978 .

2.—Section 26 of the Principal Act is hereby amended, with effect from the passing of that Act, by the substitution of the following subsections for subsection (2):

"(2) The register may be prepared, established and maintained in a form that is not legible if it is capable of being converted into a legible form and shall indicate whether each person whose name is registered therein is fully registered, provisionally registered or temporarily registered.

(2A) A certificate purporting to be signed by the Registrar and to certify that on a specified day or days or during the whole of a specified period a particular person stood registered in the register, or that on a specified day or days or during the whole of a specified period a particular person did not stand registered in the register or that on a specified day the name of a particular person was erased from the register shall, without proof of the signature of the person purporting to sign the certificate or that he was the Registrar, be evidence, unless the contrary is shown, of the matters stated in the certificate.".

3.—Section 57 of the Principal Act is hereby amended, with effect from the passing of that Act, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

"(3) In subsection (1) of this section 'copies' includes copies of a reproduction in permanent legible form, by a computer or other means, of the register in non-legible form.".

4.—Section 17 of the Act of 1978 is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (5) of the following subsection:

"(5) A person who, following a requirement under subsection (4)—

( a ) refuses or fails to comply with such a requirement, or

( b ) refuses or fails to comply with a requirement of a designated registered medical practitioner in relation to the provision under this section of a specimen of urine,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or, at the discretion of the court, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to both.".

5.—Section 23 of the Act of 1978 is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (3) of the following subsection:

"(3) In a prosecution for an offence under Section 49 or 50 of the Principal Act or section 13, 14, 16 or 17, it shall be presumed until the contrary is shown that each of the following persons is a registered medical practitioner:

( a ) a person who by virtue of powers conferred on him by this Part took from another person a specimen of that other person's blood or was provided by another person with a specimen of that other person's urine;

( b ) a person for whom, following a requirement under section 13 (1), 14 (1) or 16 (5) to permit the taking by him of a specimen of blood, there was a refusal or failure to give such permission or to comply with a requirement of his in relation to the taking of such a specimen;

( c ) a person for whom, following a requirement under section 13 (1), 14 (1), 16 (5) or 17 (4) to provide for him a specimen of urine, there was a refusal or failure to provide such a specimen or to comply with a requirement of his in relation to the provision of such a specimen.".

6.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Act, 1993 .

(2) The Medical Practitioners Act, 1978 , and this Act (in so far as it amends that Act) may be cited together as the Medical Practitioners Acts, 1978 and 1993.