Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 27 Jan 1999

Vol. 499 No. 1

Written Answers. - Tallaght Hospital Management.

Richard Bruton

Question:

76 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the terms of reference that he proposes to give to the three people he has announced will be appointed to oversee the management of Tallaght Hospital; the role to be played by the consultants he intends to appoint to be involved in overseeing the management of the hospital; the way in which the proposed appointees and consultants are to interact with each other and the chief executive officer and the board of the hospital; the funding allocated by him to pay the three appointees and the consultants; and the names of the persons he intends to appoint, their conditions of appointments and the consultancy firm selected. [1942/99]

Alan Shatter

Question:

618 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children the terms of reference that he proposes giving to the three people he has announced will be appointed to oversee the management of Tallaght Hospital; the role to be played by the consultants he intends to appoint to be involved in overseeing the management of the hospital; the way in which the proposed appointees and consultants are to interact with each other and the chief executive officer and the board of the hospital; the funding allocated by him to pay the three appointees and the consultants; and the names of the persons he intends to appoint, their conditions of appointments and the consultancy firm selected. [2098/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 618 together.

The Deloitte & Touche report on Tallaght Hospital published on 15 December 1998, provides an agreed basis for addressing the current governance and management problems. This report is accepted by the hospital and I had detailed discussions with representatives of the board of management of the hospital last month.

These discussions resulted in agreement on the way forward. A key element of this agreement with the hospital was agreement in principle on the mechanism to oversee the implementation of the Deloitte & Touche report. I announced today the establishment of a three person group to carry out this function. The membership of the group is as follows: Chairman: Mr. Kevin Bonner, former Secretary-General of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Mr. Donal O'Shea, Chief Executive Officer of the North-Eastern Health Board and chairman of the Task Force on the Eastern Regional Health Authority and Professor John Murray, Professor of Business Studies at Trinity College Dublin.

The task of this group will be to ensure that the hospital retains fully the confidence of the public, staff and suppliers; the recommendations of the Deloitte & Touche report are implemented fully as speedily as possible and governance and high level management are secured to a level which will enable the planned phased development of services at the hospital to be resumed. The group will report to the Minister who will keep the president of the hospital advised of his assessment of progress on the achievement of the above objectives.

The group will be empowered to seek whatever reports and information from the board and management of the hospital as it deems necessary and will have access to all aspects of the hospital's operations and information. Primary responsibility for the implementation of the report and all other matters relating to the governance and management of the hospital remains with the hospital authorities.

The group will be assisted and supported by Deloitte & Touche Management Consultants.

The estimated cost of this initiative together with the consultants involved is estimated at £150,000 plus VAT.