I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The object of the Bill is to revise a decision taken in 1935 which was fully justified by the circumstances existing then but which has been made out of date by subsequent developments.
There is on Richmond Hill, in Cork City, an old fever hospital which is administered by a committee of management which includes representatives of the Cork Corporation and the Cork County Council. The Cork Fever Hospital Act, 1935, provided for the replacement of this hospital by a new hospital for infectious diseases, the cost of which would be met mainly from sweepstakes funds. The Act provided that the Cork Corporation would look after the building of the hospital and that, when it was finished, a new Cork Fever Hospital Board would take it over and manage it. The old hospital would, at the same time, be closed down.
The new Cork Fever Hospital Board was to be comprised initially of five representatives of the Cork Corporation, five of the Cork County Council and five other persons elected by the committee of management of the old hospital. As the last-mentioned group of members ceased to hold office through death, resignation, or otherwise, they would be replaced by representatives of the two local authorities mentioned. In time, therefore, the board would have been entirely a local authority. The staff of the existing hospital was to have been taken over by the new board on the same conditions as they previously enjoyed.
A site for the new hospital was selected at Gurranebraher, near Cork, and, in 1940, site development was commenced. This was completed in 1944 but, due to conditions arising from the emergency, progress on the erection of the hospital was delayed.
In the meantime, the incidence of infectious diseases was declining to a great extent and, by the time that work could commence again on the hospital, this decline had become so regular and so marked that it was clear that fresh thinking was called for as to whether a new infectious diseases hospital in Cork was wanted at all. As example, the number of cases of diphtheria in Cork City and County fell from 186 in 1935 to 22 in 1950 and the number of typhoid cases fell in the same period from 57 to one.
In the light of figures such as these, a general review of the need for hospital beds in Cork led to the conclusion that the expected future cases of infectious diseases could be looked after in existing institutions and that the Gurranebraher Hospital would not be needed for such cases. It was agreed with the Cork Corporation that it could be used to better advantage as an orthopaedic hospital. An amendment of the 1935 Act is necessary to permit the hospital to be put to this use and it is proposed by the present Bill to make the necessary change.
In view of the changed function of the new hospital, it is now proposed that it will not be administered by a special new board but will be taken over by the South Cork Board of Public Assistance, consisting of members of the Cork Corporation and the Cork County Council which already administers St. Finbarr's Hospital in Cork City and district hospitals in Bandon, Kinsale, Macroom, Midleton and Youghal. The board of assistance and the committee managing the existing hospital agree with this.
The paid officers working in the old hospital will become officers of the South Cork Board of Public Assistance, and will have the same tenure of office and rights as they would have had under the new fever hospital board, in accordance with the Act passed in 1935. As the Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1948 considerably altered the law on the matter, some additional provisions are added relating to the pension rights of the transferred officers.
The new hospital at Gurranebraher will fulfil a very vital need in the hospital services of the Cork area. The incidence of orthopaedic ailments is remarkably high, and there is at present insufficient hospital accommodation for their treatment in the southern area. It is expected that the 133 beds in the new hospital will be adequate for this purpose. The new regional sanatorium at Sarsfieldscourt is nearing completion. It had been the intention originally to provide accommodation for orthopaedic cases in a section of this building, but with the change of plan in relation to Gurranebraher, this is not now necessary.
When the regional sanatorium at Sarsfieldscourt is opened, the hospital at Mallow, which is at present used for the treatment of tuberculosis, will revert to its original intended use as a general hospital for the north of the county. This legislation will not affect the reversion in any way.
The policy underlying the present Bill is acceptable to the interested local bodies. Its purpose is to permit more efficient use being made of a hospital which will be a substantial addition to the facilities in the southern area, and I recommend the Bill to the House for a Second Reading.
Now that the need for keeping up their institution for treating fevers has ceased, the committee in charge of the Richmond Hill Hospital have willingly given their assent to the transfer of the full responsibility for the hospital treatment of these diseases to the local authority. I think it is only right that when commending the Bill to the House, I should acknowledge their public spirited action, and pay tribute to all the members of the committee for their long and faithful service rendered to the people of Cork.