159. Section 55 of the Act of 2011 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1) —

(i) by the substitution of “chief executive officer” for “Preliminary Proceedings Committee”,

(ii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (e):

“(ea) the imposition on the nurse or midwife of—

(i) a prohibition against him or her providing one or more than one kind of health or social care in the State or another jurisdiction, or

(ii) a restriction on his or her ability to provide one or more than one kind of health or social care in the State or another jurisdiction,”,

and

(iii) in paragraph (f), by the substitution of “section 57A(1) or 65(1)” for “section 65(1)”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2):

“(2A) (a) The chief executive officer may, in relation to a complaint heard, being heard or to be heard by the Fitness to Practise Committee, whenever he or she considers it necessary to do so, request in writing the Garda Síochána to give to him or her information concerning the criminal record of the nurse or midwife the subject of the complaint that the Committee may reasonably require for the performance of its functions.

(b) The Garda Síochána shall, subject to section 55 of the Data Protection Act 2018, comply with a request under paragraph (a) as soon as is practicable after receiving the request.

(c) The chief executive officer may, whenever he or she considers it necessary to do so, request in writing that the registrar or clerk of a court which has convicted a nurse or midwife of an offence in the State to give to him or her a certificate of conviction (or in the case of the District Court, a certified copy of the order concerned made by the Court), or a certified copy of the judgment, or both, in respect of the offence that the chief executive officer or Board (including any committee thereof), or both, may reasonably require for the performance of his or her or its functions under this Act in relation to that nurse or midwife.

(d) The registrar or clerk of the court concerned the subject of a request under paragraph (c) shall comply with the request as soon as is practicable after receiving the request.

(e) In this subsection, ‘criminal record’, in relation to a nurse or midwife, means a record of the previous convictions (other than spent convictions within the meaning of section 5 of the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016) of the nurse or midwife for offences (if any).

(2B) Subject to subsection (2C), where the chief executive officer receives a complaint, he or she shall comply with section 56A in respect of the complaint unless—

(a) he or she is satisfied that the complaint is not made in good faith, or

(b) he or she is satisfied that the complaint is frivolous or vexatious.

(2C) Subsection (2B) shall not apply to a complaint where the Board is the complainant.

(2D) Where the chief executive officer decides that a complaint falls within subsection (2B)(a) or (b), he or she shall give notice in writing to the complainant (and, if the chief executive officer is of the opinion that it is in the interests of the complainant, or the registered nurse or registered midwife to whom the complaint relates, or of both, to do so, to such nurse or midwife) of the decision and the reasons for the decision.”,

(c) in subsection (3) —

(i) by the substitution of “chief executive officer” for “Preliminary Proceedings Committee”,

(ii) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “the chief executive officer, the Preliminary Proceedings Committee” for “the Committee”, and

(iii) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b):

“(b) the authorised officers act expeditiously, and”,

(d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(3A) The chief executive officer may, in relation to the complaint concerned, inform, in addition to the complainant, other parties to the proceedings under this Act concerning the complaint, of the decisions referred to in subsection (3)(a).”,

(e) by the deletion of subsection (4),

(f) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “chief executive officer” for “Preliminary Proceedings Committee”,

(g) in subsection (6) —

(i) in paragraph (a)(i), by the substitution of “a person who has permanently ceased to be a fit and proper person to continue to practise nursing or midwifery in the State” for “permanently unfit to continue to practise nursing or midwifery”, and

(ii) in paragraph(b), by the substitution of “chief executive officer and direct that officer”, for “Preliminary Proceedings Committee and direct the Committee”,

(h) in subsection (8), by the substitution of “chief executive officer” for “Preliminary Proceedings Committee”, and

(i) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (8):

“(8A) A complaint made before the commencement of section 159 of the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 which has not been disposed of or otherwise dealt with under this Act before that commencement shall be disposed of or otherwise dealt with under this Act as this Act was in force immediately before that commencement.”.