Privacy Policy

The Medical Council takes your privacy very seriously. We will at all times endeavour to be clear as to what personal information we hold, and why we hold it. Depending on your interaction with the Medical Council, the type of personal information that we hold will vary. Examples of why we may process your data are outlined below. At the point where you are providing us with your personal data we will inform you of the purpose of the processing and the legal basis of the processing. Please refer to the About Us section for information about what we do.

Through this website you may have an opportunity to send us information, such as through the "contact us" webpage or you may choose to send us e-mails, request brochures or provide feedback. By choosing to participate in these ways, you will be providing us with some level of personal information relating to you. This information will only be used by Medical Council for:

  • The purpose for which it was provided by you
  • Verification purposes and statistical analysis
  • Marketing and administration purposes

For information on how we use cookies please see our Terms of Use and Cookies Policy.

Any personal information that you provide to the Medical Council will only be processed in ways compatible with the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’) and the Freedom of Information Act 2014. As noted above, should your interaction with us occur through formal processes e.g. submitting a complaint about a doctor, we will process your personal data in line with the named Data Protection and FOI legislation above and the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, as amended.

Regardless of the type of interaction you have with us, please be assured that the Medical Council is fully aware of its obligations under Data Protection legislation. We employ appropriate physical and technical security measures and review these measures regularly. Staff are trained in and comply with Data Protection policies and procedures in order to ensure that they have a complete understanding of the importance of respecting individuals’ rights to privacy. A high-level overview of the relevant policies are available by clicking on the links below.

More Information

Data Protection Policy

All staff employed by the Medical Council are required to adhere to our Data Protection Policy. This Policy outlines how the Medical Council continually safeguards personal data provided to us, describes the Principles of Data Protection as set out in Article 5 of the GDPR and advises on how to identify and report any suspected or actual data breaches so that the necessary mitigations can be implemented without delay.

We ensure that we safeguard information held in electronic format through secure IT systems, restrict access to information internally and password protect computer access. For paper records we adhere to our Records Management Policy (see below). 

Records Management Policy

All staff employed by the Medical Council are required to adhere to the Records Management Policy.

The purpose of the Records Management Policy is to ensure the creation, management, retention and destruction of records result in complete, usable and reliable records, which are capable of supporting the Medical Council’s functions and activities and which ensure accountability for as long as is required. It also outlines timeframes for destruction of records, based on best practice and legislative requirements.

CCTV Policy

The Medical Council adheres to a CCTV Policy which sets out how the organisation operates CCTV on its premises. If you have any concerns around CCTV or how it is operated by the Medical Council then please contact the Data Protection Officer.

Data Protection Officer

Data Protection Unit
Medical Council
Kingram House
Kingram Place
Dublin 2
D02 XY88

Email: dp@mcirl.ie

Telephone: +353 (0)1 498 3100

Visitors to our website

If you decide to contact us via this website (for example to request a copy of the newsletter) then we will only use your personal information (for example your email address) for the purpose(s) for which the information was provided. Any time we gather information from you we will make it clear why we need it and what we will do with it.

General Information

The Medical Council performs several different functions as outlined in the Medical Practitioners Act 2007. In order to perform these functions, personal data may be processed, for example to register a doctor, handle a complaint against a doctor, or to carry out our functions around education and training and professional competence. If you have provided your personal data to the Medical Council as part of any of these processes, what we do with that information will be made clear to you at the point at which we gather it.

In addition, there are occasions when the Medical Council may share information with third parties in the public sector. We will ensure when we do so we are in line with the recommendations of the Data Protection Commissioner regarding data sharing in the public sector. If we share data with any private sector entities we will ensure that we have a legal basis on which to do so. If you have more specific queries around Data Protection or Freedom of Information please visit our Data Protection & Freedom of Information section of our website. Contact details for the DP Officer are also available there.

About Us

The Medical Council regulates medical doctors in Ireland. The Council’s purpose is to protect the public by promoting and better ensuring high standards of professional conduct, education, training, and competence among doctors.