8.—(1) The Council shall do all things necessary and reasonable to further its object and shall exercise its powers and perform its functions in the public interest.

(2) Without limiting the Council's responsibilities under subsection (1), its functions are to—

(a) oversee and co-ordinate the activities of registration boards,

(b) provide administrative support and secretarial assistance to registration boards and their committees,

(c) receive applications and make decisions under Part 4 concerning the refusal of registration boards to grant or restore registration,

(d) enforce standards of practice for registrants of the designated professions, including the codes of professional conduct and ethics adopted by their registration boards,

(e) establish committees of inquiry into complaints under Part 6 against registrants of the designated professions,

(f) make decisions and give directions under Part 6 relating to the imposition of disciplinary sanctions on registrants of the designated professions,

(g) advise the Minister, either on its own initiative or at the Minister's request, on all matters relating to the Council's functions under this Act,

(h) encourage registration boards to collaborate with each other, where practicable, including in the professional education and training of registrants,

(i) issue assessment guidelines for the purposes of section 91, and

(j) perform any function that may be assigned by the Minister to the Council and that relates to—

(i) the registrants of any designated profession, their education and training and the practice of the profession, or

(ii) the implementation of any directive or regulation of the Council of the European Union concerning the practice of, and persons engaged in, health care or social care.

(3) The Council has power to do anything that appears to it to be requisite, advantageous or incidental to, or to facilitate, the performance of its functions under this Act.