The main body representing hospital consultants has expressed grave reservations about some of the changes announced yesterday to the way in which the medical profession will be policed.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) is concerned that fewer people will be elected or nominated to the council by the medical profession.
In a statement it said it was "difficult to see how people appointed by the Minister for Health to the medical council will be more competent than elected medical professionals in carrying out these roles".
Under the proposed changes nine members of council, including seven lay members, would be nominated by the Minister. At present the Minister appoints six members.
"If enacted, this Bill would give the Minister for Health extraordinary powers. The Minister would be able to dictate to the medical council how medicine should be practised in Ireland. Again, it is difficult to see how this is in the interests of competent medicine and the public good," the IHCA said.
The body representing other doctors, the Irish Medical Organisation, said the new Bill was very important and it had been a long time coming. "It's a major document which needs careful consideration as the detail will be important," said the IMO's present Dr Christine O'Malley.
The President of the Medical Council, Dr John Hillery, welcomed the publication of the draft heads of the proposed new Medical Practitioners Bill "as a major step towards the introduction of modern regulation for the medical profession in Ireland".
He said he and his predecessors campaigned for many years for change and "now at last" they had concrete proposals to debate.
Dr Hillery said he welcomed in particular the measures which supported the introduction of a scheme to allow assessment of doctors to ensure they retained their competence.
"Though there are radical changes delineated for the membership of the medical council I am glad that self-regulation by the profession is still an option, contrary to the reports of earlier this year," he added.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said the changes represented the "biggest overhaul" of legislation in this area in almost 30 years. She said the public interest was foremost in the new draft legislation and she hoped to introduce the Bill to the Oireachtas in the autumn.
"We will be providing for the medical council to be formed in a different way - a majority of those that participate in the council will not be elected by the medical profession. There will be a greater role for lay participation," she said.
"We will also be providing for whistle-blowing provisions in the legislation to protect those that make complaints against doctors."