What we do
The objective of the Medical Council is to protect the public by promoting and better ensuring high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence among registered medical practitioners.
Established by the Medical Practitioners Act 1978 (updated in 2007), the principal functions of the Medical Council include;
- Establish and maintain the register of medical practitioners.
- Approve and review programmes of education and training necessary for the purposes of registration and continued registration
- Specify and review the standards required for the purpose of the maintenance of professional competence of registered medical practitioners
- Specify standards of practice for registered medical practitioners including providing guidance on all matters related to professional conduct and ethics
- Disciplinary procedures
The Council has a membership of 25 including both elected and appointed members. Under the provisions of the Medical Practitioners Act, 2007, the new Council is comprised of 13 non-medical members and 12 medical members representing a range of medical specialties, teaching bodies and members of the public and stakeholders, all of whose appointments have been approved by the Minister for Health and Children. The current Council's period of office is 2008 to 2013. The Medical Council is funded exclusively by the annual payments of registered doctors; no funds are received from government or other sources. The annual retention fee for a fully registered doctor has been set at €490 from 1st July 2009.
In February 2010 there was a total of 18,195 doctors registered with the Medical Council.
The Medical Council Corporate Governance documents can be downloaded below;