The European Commission is to look at how EU member-states can share information on malpractice by health professionals so that one state doesn't end up unwittingly employing a doctor or nurse who was found guilty of professional misconduct in another member-state.
The plan, which will involve the exchange of information on a confidential basis, was revealed by the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr David Byrne, in Dublin yesterday.
Mr Byrne said the aim was to ensure patients were protected.
He said there had been instances where professionals found guilty of malpractice in one member-state then moved to work in another member-state.
"There are instances of this happening, and I know this has happened in Ireland, and I know there has been some considerable concern about this over the last couple of months here in Ireland," he said.
There has been concern about how Dr William Porter, a doctor struck off in California, has been able to treat cancer patients in the midwest with an alternative light therapy.
And in the year 2000 controversy followed the employment by the South Eastern Health Board of a consultant psychiatrist while he was suspended from the medical register in the UK.
"I think we have to make sure that where we have the movement of not just patients but professionals from one member-state to another, that there is a proper confidential exchange of information between the various professional organisations," Mr Byrne said.
The details of how the system will operate have yet to be worked out.