NI government consults on mandatory vaccines
· BBC NewsPeter Coulter
BBC News NI
Northern Ireland's Department of Health (DoH) is consulting on potential new laws to deal with another public health emergency like Covid-19.
Concerns have been raised across social media that the assembly is planning to introduce mandatory vaccinations and forced quarantine as part of any new legislation.
A campaign group has been formed to oppose the proposals and MLAs are being inundated with letters and emails.
A department spokesperson said a public consultation is "supposed to stimulate public debate".
DUP MLA Diane Dodds said the proposals "represent a huge overreach and must be rejected" and called for the consultation to be scrapped.
BBC News NI has been examining the 79, external-page consultation, external to try to get to the bottom of some of the claims.
Why is this consultation happening?
The DoH has said the Public Health Act 1967 , externalis out of date, too narrow and needs to be modernised.
Department officials, under the supervision of the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Michael McBride, carried out a review of of the legislation, external in 2016 and this consultation is based on the recommendations from that review.
Once the consultation is finished the DoH would prepare a draft bill which would then be debated at Stormont.
MLAs will then debate the legislation and have the opportunity to suggest amendments.
Five key points from the consultation
1. Mandatory vaccines
This is the most controversial part of the consultation and goes further than any previous legislation. There has been a lot of opposition to this proposal online and from other politicians.
Section 143 states "the regulations may impose a special restriction or requirement such as requiring a person to be vaccinated or to receive other prophylactic treatments".
Following the public outcry the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, said he was against mandatory vaccines but said "it is important we consider all options".
"I am not in favour of mandatory vaccination even in limited and tightly prescribed circumstances," he said.
"Nevertheless, it is right that we have a public conversation about all potential options in the public consultation," he added.
During the Covid-19 pandemic the government in Westminster moved to make the vaccine compulsory for front-line NHS workers and care home staff, for a time, but Northern Ireland did not follow suit.
2. Power of entry
Some of the language in this section is vague, which has led to speculation that the proposed bill would give Public Health Agency (PHA) officers the power to enter your home and seize your possessions.
Bur some of this isn't new.
The 1967 Public Health Act, external already allows for officers to enter "any premises' at all" for the purpose of "ascertaining whether there is, or has been" any breach of the rules.
This consultation does, however, propose enhancing these powers, including applying for a warrant, using reasonable force and taking photographs and evidence., external
Although it does go on to say (section 57 C) that these powers will not extend to private houses and that the PHA would need a court order if they wanted to enter your home for that.
Expect to hear MLAs pushing the minister on this during any Assembly debates.
3. Meetings of people and groups
You might be familiar with some of these suggestions from the Covid regulations but they don't currently exist in any other Northern Irish laws.
PHA will have the power to "serve notice on any persons or groups of people requesting them to do, or refrain from doing, anything for the purpose of preventing the spread of infection".
There is no more detail on what sort of groups might be included in this but it could cover things like churches meeting or protests.
The consultation is also suggesting that the PHA should be able to offer compensation or expenses in connection with its request.
If this power is not effective the PHA can also go to court.
4. School children and headteachers
"The department proposes to make provision giving the PHA the power to require a child is kept away from school," according to section 145 of the consultation.
So if a child has an infectious disease the PHA could order that they don't attend school.
There is another section that would give the PHA power to require a headteacher to provide the names, addresses and contact telephone numbers for pupils if they believe that an infected person has been on the school site.
A headteacher could be fined £200 for not providing the information.
BBC News NI's education correspondent Robbie Meredith said that while, during the coronavirus pandemic, school principals were expected to assist the PHA in contact tracing and in keeping infectious children out of school, the threat of a fine appears to be a new measure.
5. Detainment under quarantine
The idea of isolation and quarantine if you are infected is not new but section 138 has been described by critics as "forced detainment under quarantine".
The consultation suggests that if a magistrate's court orders that someone be quarantined and they leave quarantine then a police officer may take them into custody and return them to where they were supposed to be quarantined.
The DoH has said that "existing legislation already enables an application to be made for a magistrates’ court order to require that a person who has an infectious disease be removed to hospital or detained there".
What has the department said?
In a statement to BBC News NI, a department spokesperson said: “Northern Ireland needs to replace outdated public health legislation that is more than 55 years old.
"We need legislation that covers infection and contamination from biological, chemical and radiological sources and brings us into line with the rest of the UK.
"Any draft legislation emerging from the consultation will go through the Northern Ireland Assembly's normal scrutiny processes, including a detailed review by the Health Committee and an Assembly debate followed by votes of the full Assembly.
"A public consultation is supposed to stimulate public debate.”
The DoH has also said there would be “significant safeguards to protect individual rights”.
The consultation is open until 14 October. , external
The department has also published a fact sheet, external.