Any discussion by the Medical Council about the forthcoming referendum on citizenship will not be heard until after the vote has taken place, it emerged tonight.
The doctors' watchdog group said, after a member raised the issue of the role the three main maternity hospitals took in the referendum, that it would be "broadly discussed" at the next monthly meeting of the body.
It is understood that Dr Asam Ishtiaq aired his views in public and then during the private meeting of the council.
He said he was concerned over how the doctors in the maternity hospitals gathered statistics over the nationality of mothers in the wards.
Dr Ishtiaq will be submitting a paper for the council for next month's meeting on the issues he has raised around his concerns over the maternity hospitals and the upcoming referendum.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell sparked controversy earlier this year when he said one of the reasons he called a referendum was the masters of the maternity hospitals said they could not cope with the numbers of non-nationals going there to give birth.
The Medical Council said Dr Ishtiaq lodged no complaint and there was no issue with Dr Declan Keane of the National Maternity Hospital, Dr Michael Geary of the Rotunda and Dr Sean Daly of the Coombe.
The group said unless there is an issue with patients' safety they do not take discussions on the day of the council's monthly meeting.
The vice-president, Dr Colm Quigley, said Dr Ishtiaq would have made his remarks over the upcoming referendum on citizenship rights on his own behalf and not on that of the council.