A PSYCHIATRIST who took up a job working with children and teenagers in Donegal, despite giving an undertaking to the Medical Council not to practise in Ireland due to fears about his suspected misuse of controlled drugs, has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

A fitness-to-practise inquiry by the Medical Council found a series of allegations proven against Dr Syed Zubair, The Journal reported.

A Medical Council inquiry concluded Dr Zubair, (53) from Pakistan, failed to disclose he already had an agreement with the Medical Council that he would not practise medicine in the Republic during a job interview in September 2018 for a post as a registrar with Donegal Mental Health Services.

Dr Zubair had given an undertaking not to practise in May 2016 after the regulatory body had been notified of concerns his patients might be at risk as a result of allegations he was intoxicated or under the influence of substances while working in the acute psychiatric unit of Roscommon University Hospital, according to The Journal.

The psychiatrist qualified as a doctor in 1996, and first registered to practise in Ireland in 2007. He worked with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Donegal between March 20, 2019, and July 5, 2019.

A total of 12 allegations of professional misconduct against Dr Zubair were outlined at earlier hearings of the inquiry.

A solicitor for the Medical Council said a sanction “at the upper end of the scale” was warranted in the case.