Perhaps I might explain that under this section the Minister by order may appoint a day to be called the establishment day, that is, the day upon which the hospitals group will be established as a federation under the Bill.
Hospitals Federation and Amalgamation Bill, 1961—Committee and Final Stages.
Section 1 agreed to.
SECTION 2.
Question proposed: "That Section 2 stand part of the Bill."
Question put and agreed to.
SECTION 3.
Question proposed: "That Section 3 stand part of the Bill."
This section enables the Minister to appoint a certain critical day under the Bill, that is, the transfer day upon which all the property and functions of the existing federation will be transferred to the amalgamated hospitals.
Question put and agreed to.
Sections 4 to 6, inclusive, agreed to.
SECTION 7.
Question proposed: "That Section 7 stand part of the Bill."
Just in case some Senator may wish to know, this section defines the constitution of the Central Council. Basically, there will be 40 members, five from each hospital authority and five appointed by the Dublin Health Authority. In addition, two members may be appointed in each case by any university, college or any institution which has entered into an agreement with the Council for the clinical education of medical students.
Question put and agreed to.
SECTION 8.
Government amendment No. 1:
In subsection (1), line 50, before "of" to insert "or subsection (3)."
I suggest we take amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 3 together.
Amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 3 may be taken together.
Under subsection (1) of Section 6 and subsection (1) of Section 8 of the Bill, every person who on the establishment of the Federated Dublin Voluntary Hospitals was a member of the governing body of a participating hospital will become a member of the hospital board of that hospital and, under Section 8, as now drafted, would continue in a membership until he died, resigned or ceased to be a member because of, shall we say, slackness in attending meetings.
That provision does not apply to the Meath Hospital, elections for which will continue to be made under the Meath Hospital Act, 1951. While there is no statutory provision for local authority representation on the governing body of any of the seven participating hospitals, with the exception of the Meath Hospital, in practice, an arrangement has been operated by each of the other six hospitals under which the Dublin Corporation appoint a member or members to the governing body. Those members hold office during the term of the Corporation and the places in the governing body which they fill are thrown open and have to be refilled after each local election.
It has been represented on behalf of the participating hospitals that it would be undesirable that those who happen at the moment to be Corporation assignees on the governing bodies of the participating hospitals should be entitled to continue in perpetual membership in the same way as the ordinary members of the governing body. It was accordingly proposed that Section 8 should be so amended that the Corporation members would go out of office from the hospital board at the time when they would have ceased to be members of the governing bodies of the hospitals, if this Bill bad never been introduced.
The effect of amendment No. 2 is to provide for this, and amendment No. 3 will provide that a vacancy in the membership of a hospital board caused by a person ceasing to be a member in accordance with amendment No. 2 or by a person who would have so ceased to be a member dying, resigning or relinquishing membership, will be filled by co-option by the hospital board but having regard to any recommendation made by the Dublin Health Authority as to the person to be co-opted.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 2:
In page 9, before subsection (3), to insert the following subsection:—
"( ) Any member of the hospital board who
(a) became a member of the board by virtue of his having been, immediately before the establishment day, a member, appointed on the recommendation of a local authority, of the governing body of the hospital, or
(b) was co-opted as a member of the board on the recommendation of the Dublin Health Authority,
shall cease to be a member of the board on the day of such first meeting of the Dublin Health Authority after the quinquennial appointment of the members of that Authority as next follows the commencement of his term of office."
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 3:
In page 9, before subsection (4), to insert the following subsection:—
"( ) Where a vacancy in the membership of a hospital board falling to be filled under subsection (3) of this section is caused by—
(a) a person ceasing under subsection (*) of this section to be a member of the board, or
(b) the death, resignation or cesser of membership under subsection (2) of this section of a person who, if he had not died, resigned or so ceased.to be a member of the board, would have ceased under subsection (*) of this section to be a member of the board,
the hospital board, in filling the vacancy, shall have regard to any recommendation made by the Dublin Health Authority as to the person to be co-opted."
Amendment agreed to.
Section 8, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 9 to 13, inclusive, agreed to.
SECTION 14.
Question proposed: "That Section 14 stand part of the Bill."
The Seanad may be aware of the proposal to assign in detail functions in relation to the participating hospitals which are to be performed by the Council.
Question put and agreed to.
Sections 15 to 18, inclusive, agreed to.
SECTION 19.
Government amendment No. 4:
In page 14, subsection (4), line 15, before "of" to insert "or the hospital board".
I am indebted to Senator O'Quigley for this amendment and am glad to pay him that tribute. The section provides for the adaptation of references in conveyances, deeds, wills and other instruments, so that they can have effect after the hospitals are amalgamated on the transfer day. Under subsection (4) of Section 19, as it stands, it is provided that references to the hospitals and to their governing bodies will be given appropriate new constructions. The effect of amendment No. 4 will be to give similar construction to a reference in any conveyance, deed, will or other instrument to the hospital board of a participating hospital which will be established under Section 6 of the Bill.
Amendment agreed to.
Section 19, as amended, agreed to.
Section 20 agreed to.
SECTION 21.
Government amendment No. 5:
In page 15, paragraph (b), lines 2 and 3, to delete "by whom" and substitute "by whose death, resignation or cesser of membership under subsection (8) of section 7 of this Act".
This is a drafting amendment. It is a simple amendment.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 6:
In page 15, to delete subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) and substitute the following subparagraph:—
"(ii) if such member was a member of the visiting medical staff of a participating hospital or of the visiting medical staff of the participating hospitals or of the visiting medical staff of any hospital administered by the Council, the person co-opted shall also be a member of one of those visiting medical staffs,".
Section 21, paragraph (b), subparagraph (ii) provides that where, by co-option, a vacancy in the Central Council is filled after the establishment day and the person occasioning the vacancy was a member of the visiting medical staff of the participating hospitals, his successor will also be a member of that staff. This subparagraph is defective as, in fact, those persons holding office on the visiting medical staff of a particular participating hospital on the establishment of the federation will retain their status of attachment to the one hospital. Those appointed after the establishment day will be "visiting medical staff of the participating hospitals", that is, the hospital group as a whole.
In addition, there is power in subsection (3) of Section 5 of the Bill under which the Council could at some future time provide a completely new hospital, which would not, of course, be one of the "participating hospitals". Therefore, provision should have been made in subparagraph (ii) for three categories of visiting medical staff, those for individual hospitals, those for the participating hospitals as a group and those for any new hospital which may be established by the Council. The purpose of the amendment is to make such provision.
Amendment agreed to.
Section 21, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 22 to 27, inclusive, agreed to.
First Schedule agreed to.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Government Amendment No. 7:
In page 16, paragraph 1 (1), line 31, to delete "date" and substitute "day".
This is merely a drafting amendment in the Schedule. The word "date" is used when it ought to have been "day".
Amendment agreed to.
Second Schedule, as amended, agreed to.
Third and Fourth Schedules agreed to.
Title agreed to.
Bill reported with amendments.
Question proposed: "That the Bill be received for final consideration."
On the Report Stage, which comes to us after amendments have been inserted on Committee Stage, it might be appropriate to say that the amendments we have inserted in this Bill are proof of the usefulness of a second House in enabling members of that House and Ministers themselves to take a second look at a Bill which has been passed through the Dáil. It shows us also that we should be very loath to allow all Stages of any Bill to be passed on the same day and Ministers should be very loath to ask for that.
Question put and agreed to.
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."
I should like again to say that I, as Minister for Health, and the whole community, owe a debt to the governing bodies of the seven hospitals concerned in this Bill for the manner in which they have been able to compose differences and to sacrifice certain traditional autonomies to enable us to solve a problem which has been crying out for solution for a very great many years.
Question put and agreed to.