2. (1) In this Act—

“access”, in relation to a Register, includes to inspect the Register;

“Act of 2013” means the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013;

F1["Act of 2018" means the Data Protection Act 2018;]

“authorised disclosee” means—

(a) a person specified in Schedule 1, or

(b) subject to section 3(3) and (8), a person, or a person who falls within a class of persons, prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph;

“conditions” includes terms;

F2["Data Protection Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016⁴⁸ on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);]

“enactment” means an Act or statutory instrument or any portion of an Act or statutory instrument;

“equivalent person” shall be construed in accordance with section 12(1);

“European act” means an act or provision of an act, adopted by an institution of the European Union, an institution of the European Communities or any other body competent under the treaties governing the European Union;

“Executive” means the Health Service Executive;

“health”, in relation to an individual, includes the well-being of the individual;

“health practitioner” means—

(a) a registered medical practitioner within the meaning of section 2 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 or a medical practitioner practising medicine pursuant to section 50 of that Act,

(b) a registered dentist within the meaning of section 2 of the Dentists Act 1985,

(c) a registered pharmacist or registered pharmaceutical assistant within the meaning of the Pharmacy Act 2007,

(d) a registered nurse or registered midwife within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011,

(e) a registered optometrist or registered dispensing optician within the meaning of section 2 of the Opticians Act 1956,

(f) a registrant within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005,

(g) a person whose name is entered in the register of pre-hospital emergency care practitioners established under the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order 2000 (S.I. No. 109 of 2000), or

(h) a person who falls within a class of persons, being a class of persons who provide a health service, prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph;

“health service” means a health or personal social service (including personal care and any administrative service or other ancillary matter relating to the health or personal social service) provided to an individual—

(a) for—

(i) the screening, preservation or improvement of the health of the individual, or

(ii) the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or care of an illness or injury of the individual,

and

(b) by or under the direction of a health practitioner or relevant body;

“health services provider” means—

(a) a health practitioner who falls within a class of health practitioners prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph,

(b) a relevant body, or a relevant body which falls within a class of relevant bodies, prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph,

(c) a relevant employee of—

(i) a health practitioner referred to in paragraph (a), or

(ii) a relevant body referred to in paragraph (b),

(d) a relevant agent, who is an individual, of—

(i) a health practitioner referred to in paragraph (a), or

(ii) a relevant body referred to in paragraph (b),

or

(e) a relevant agent, who is not an individual, of—

(i) a health practitioner referred to in paragraph (a), or

(ii) a relevant body referred to in paragraph (b);

“health services provider identifier”, in relation to a health services provider, shall be construed in accordance with section 13(1);

“identifier” means an individual health identifier or a health services provider identifier;

“individual health identifier”, in relation to an individual, shall be construed in accordance with section 5(1);

“Minister” means the Minister for Health;

“National Register of Health Services Provider Identifiers” means the National Register of Health Services Provider Identifiers established and maintained under section 14(1);

"National Register of Individual Health Identifiers” means the National Register of Individual Health Identifiers established and maintained under section 6(1);

“number” includes an alphanumeric number;

“other identifying particulars”, in relation to an individual, means any one or more of the following particulars:

(a) surname;

(b) forename;

(c) date of birth;

(d) place of birth;

(e) sex;

(f) all former surnames;

(g) mother’s surname and all former surnames of his or her mother (including mother’s surname at mother’s birth);

(h) address;

(i) nationality;

(j) personal public service number (if any) within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005;

(k) date of death in the case of a deceased individual;

(l) signature (not being a signature which falls within a class of signatures prescribed as a class of signatures to which this paragraph does not apply);

(m) photograph (not being a photograph which falls within a class of photographs prescribed as a class of photographs to which this paragraph does not apply);

(n) subject to section 3(8), any other particulars (excluding clinical information relating to the individual) prescribed for the purpose of this paragraph that, in the opinion of the Minister, are relevant to identifying the individual;

F3["personal data" means personal data within the meaning of—

(a) the Data Protection Regulation, or

(b) Part 5 of the Act of 2018;]

“possession” includes control;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

“primary purpose” means the present, past or future provision of a health service to an individual;

F4["processing" means processing within the meaning of—

(a) the Data Protection Regulation, or

(b) Part 5 of the Act of 2018;]

“professional regulatory body” means—

(a) the Medical Council,

(b) the Dental Council,

(c) the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland,

(d) the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland,

(e) Bord na Radharcmhastóirí,

(f) a registration board established by or under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005,

(g) the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council, or

(h) a body, being the regulatory body of a class of persons prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (h) of the definition of “health practitioner”, prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph;

“Register” means—

(a) the National Register of Individual Health Identifiers, or

(b) the National Register of Health Services Provider Identifiers;

“relevant agent”—

(a) in relation to a health practitioner referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of “health services provider”, means an agent of the health practitioner in the health practitioner’s capacity as such and who falls within a class of such agents prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph, and

(b) in relation to a relevant body referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “health services provider”, means an agent of the relevant body in the relevant body’s capacity as such and who falls within a class of such agents prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph;

“relevant body” means—

(a) the Executive, or

(b) a body corporate, or an unincorporated body of persons, through which or in connection with which (whether by reason of employment or otherwise) a health practitioner, referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of “health services provider”, provides a health service;

“relevant employee”—

(a) in relation to a health practitioner referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of “health services provider”, means an employee of the health practitioner in the health practitioner’s capacity as such and who falls within a class of such employees prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph, and

(b) in relation to a relevant body referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “health services provider”, means an employee of the relevant body in the relevant body’s capacity as such and who falls within a class of such employees prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph;

“relevant information (health services provider)”, in relation to a health services provider, means—

(a) the provider’s health services provider identifier,

(b) some or all of the provider’s relevant particulars (health services provider) contained in the National Register of Health Services Provider Identifiers, or

(c) both the provider’s health services provider identifier and some or all of the provider’s relevant particulars (health services provider) contained in the National Register of Health Services Provider Identifiers;

“relevant information (individual) ”, in relation to an individual, means—

(a) the individual’s individual health identifier,

(b) some or all of the individual’s other identifying particulars contained in the National Register of Individual Health Identifiers, or

(c) both the individual’s individual health identifier and some or all of the individual’s other identifying particulars contained in the National Register of Individual Health Identifiers;

“relevant particulars (health services provider)”, in relation to a health services provider, means the provider’s particulars referred to in paragraph (a)(ii), (b)(ii), (c)(ii), (d)(ii) or (e)(ii), as appropriate, of subsection (1) of section 14;

“relevant purpose” means—

(a) a primary purpose, or

(b) a secondary purpose;

“secondary purpose” means—

(a) the promotion of patient safety, including clinical auditing and the investigation and reporting of patient safety incidents,

(b) the identification or prevention of a threat to public health,

(c) the management of health services, including—

(i) the planning, monitoring, delivery, improvement, auditing and evaluation of health services,

(ii) the investigation and resolution of complaints relating to health services, and

(iii) the management of national health systems,

(d) the carrying out of health research that is the subject of a research ethics approval (or any cognate expression) under an enactment or European act prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph,

(e) the performance of any function conferred on a person under this Act or another enactment for which the processing of identifiers is necessary,

(f) the provision of a scheme of health or health-related insurance operated by an undertaking authorised to so do under the Health Insurance Act 1994, or

(g) any—

(i) processing of relevant information (individuals) required to protect or prevent injury or other damage to the health or safety of an individual,

(ii) processing of relevant information (individuals) required by or under an enactment, rule of law or equity or order of a court,

(iii) processing of relevant information (individuals) that is F5[in accordance with the Data Protection Regulation and the Act of 2018] and required for—

(I) the purposes of obtaining legal advice,

(II) the purposes of, or in the course of, legal proceedings, or

(III) the purposes of, or in the course of, alternative dispute resolution procedures agreed between a service provider and an individual as a means of resolving a dispute,

or

(iv) subject to section 3(4) and (8), processing of relevant information (individuals) relating to health that is prescribed for the purposes of this subparagraph;

“specified person” means—

(a) a health services provider,

(b) a person specified in Schedule 2, or

(c) subject to section 3(5) and (8),a person, or a person who falls within a class of persons, prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph.

(2) A reference in this Act to a Part of the National Register of Health Services Provider Identifiers shall be construed in accordance with section 14(1).