Home Policy and Advocacy RCPI Policy Group on Medical Fitness to Drive

RCPI Policy Group on Medical Fitness to Drive

Irish roadway

While many factors contribute to road safety, a driver’s health is an important consideration

Medical standards for driver licensing are used internationally to ensure that the driver’s health status does not increase their risk of crashing.

The RCPI Policy Group on Medical Fitness to Drive was established in 2010. It was chaired by Professor Des O’Neill, a Consultant Physician in Geriatric and Stroke Medicine at Tallaght Hospital Dublin.

The policy group highlighted the importance of having a national strategy for standards in medical fitness to drive in Ireland. It helped to establish a National Office for Traffic Medicine with the Road Safety Authority of Ireland in 2011.

In close consultation with stakeholders, the National Office for Traffic Medicine has developed a national framework for standards in Traffic Medicine in Ireland, including an active research and education programme, international linkages and outreach to the general driving public. The Policy Group on Traffic Medicine terminated its activities in 2011 on the development of the National Office for Traffic Medicine and further details of the active Traffic Medicine programme based in RCPI are available via the link below.

 

The National Programme Office for Traffic Medicine

Jointly established by RCPI and the Road Safety Authority of Ireland in 2011, bringing the specialty of Traffic Medicine to Ireland for the first time

Learn more

Members of the RCPI Policy Group on Medical Fitness to Drive
Dr Des O’Neill (Chair) Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine
Dr Ross Ardill General Practitioner
Dr Derek Bennett Irish Institute of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
Prof Denis Cusack Forensic & Legal Medicine, also Coroners Society of Ireland
Dr Norman Delanty Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience
Dr Brian Farrell Coroners Society of Ireland
Mr Michael Gormley Psychological Society of Ireland
Ms Noeleen Harvey Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland
Dr Joanna Joyce Cooney HSE Principal Medical Officers Group and Irish Society of Community & Public Health Medicine
Dr Edward Keelan Irish Cardiac Society
Dr Gerry Lane Irish Association for Emergency Medicine
Prof Walter McNicholas Irish Thoracic Society
Dr Jacinta Morgan Irish Association of Rehabilitation Medicine
Mr David O’Brien Neurosurgery
Mr Martin O’Brien Association of Optometrists Ireland
Dr Diarmuid Smith Irish Endocrine Society
Mr Tadhg Stapleton Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland
Dr Anne Jeffers College of Psychiatry of Ireland
Dr Garry Treacy Irish College of Ophthalmologists
Dr Declan Whelan Faculty of Occupational Medicine
Prof David Williams Clinical Pharmacology, RCSI
Dr Patricia Logan Irish College of Ophthalmologists
Dr Patricia Fitzpatrick Faculty of Public Health Medicine
Mr Tony McAleer Irish Association of Orthoptists
Dr Gerry Cummins Irish College of General Practitioners
 

Contact Us

For further information about medical fitness to drive or the National Programme Office for Traffic Medicine please contact:

Dr Margaret Ryan

Programme Manager, National Office for Traffic Medicine

Address: RCPI, Frederick House, 19 South Frederick Street, Dublin 2

Tel: +353 1 863 9788