Section 59A

The Medical Council may appoint one or more committees each comprising 3 of its members, called for the purposes of this Act Interim Orders Committees, to inquire into any matter referred by the Medical Council under subsection (3).

An Interim Orders Committee may be appointed in connection with one or more matters or for a fixed period of time.

The chairman of the Complaints Panel, or a Complaints Committee, Disciplinary Tribunal or Health Committee may refer any complaint or information to the Medical Council for the purpose of determining if an order should be made under section 59B(1), and the Medical Council must refer the complaint or information to an Interim Orders Committee for this purpose.

Neither the chairman of the Complaints Panel nor a member of a Complaints Committee, Disciplinary Tribunal or Health Committee inquiring into any matter is to be a member of an Interim Orders Committee inquiring into or reviewing the same matter.

A member of an Interim Orders Committee inquiring into or reviewing any matter must not be a member of a Complaints Committee or Disciplinary Tribunal inquiring into the same matter, or take part in any deliberation of the Medical Council under section 58 in respect of the same matter.

All members of an Interim Orders Committee must vote on any question arising at a meeting of the Interim Orders Committee and such question is to be determined by a majority of votes.

A member of an Interim Orders Committee which has commenced any inquiry or review of any case or matter, even though he has ceased to be a member of the Medical Council, continues to be a member of the Interim Orders Committee until completion of that inquiry or review.

Sections 50(9), (10), (11) and (12)(a) and 51(1), (4) to (8) and (11) apply, with the necessary modifications, to an Interim Orders Committee and to proceedings before it as they apply to a Disciplinary Tribunal and to proceedings before a Disciplinary Tribunal.