I move:
That Seanad Éireann approves the following Order in draft:
The Royal Hospital, Donnybrook (Charter Amendment) Order, 1990,
a copy of which Order in draft was laid before Seanad Éireann on 18th December 1990.
The Royal Hospital, Donnybrook (Charter Amendment) Order, 1990: Motion.
I sincerely regret the House had to adjourn because of my absence. I was here but as I felt the Senators were in a mood to continue their contributions I thought I would not interrupt them. When I went back to the other House the Leader of Fine Gael did not want to go home for Christmas and, consequently, we had a vote. I am pleased to be back in this House again.
As indicated in the explanatory memorandum which accompanied the draft order, the application to amend the charter of the Royal Hospital, Donnybrook was made by the board of management of the hospital. Section 76 of the Health Act, 1970, gives power to the Minister for Health to make an order, on the application of the governing body of a hospital, to amend a charter or Private Act relating to that hospital, subject to consultation with the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests — who have been consulted in this case and who have approved of the proposed amendments to the hospital's charter — and also subject to a draft of an order which it is proposed to make being laid before each House of the Oireachtas. The section stipulates that the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each House.
Following consideration of the amendments to the charter, and supplemental charter put forward by the hospital's board of management, the Minister agreed to make an order incorporating the amendments to their existing charter, which was granted to the hospital in 1800 and also to the supplemental charter which was adopted in 1886.
The main purpose of the amendments is to make new provisions for the appointment of governors and also to bring up-to-date certain other clauses that are regarded as out-moded. The memorandum circulated with the draft order explains the various amendments.
I believe the House will welcome the amendments to out-moded clauses but it is only fair to the board of The Royal Hospital to say that the out-dated clauses have not been applied in practice for many years past.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank the board of The Royal Hospital, and also the medical, nursing and other staff of the hospital, for the excellent work they have performed over the years in treating a great number of long-stay patients and more recently in developing rehabilitation services. I feel sure that this good work will continue and, indeed, will be further developed to meet the changing needs of the hospital's catchment population in south Dublin.
I ask the Seanad to approve of the Draft Royal Hospital, Donnybrook (Charter Amendment) Order, 1990, which has been laid before the House.
At the outset it would be appropriate to put on the record of this House the appreciation of my party of the tremendous work that the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook has done over the years. There can be no doubt that it stands out as one of the finest institutions in the health area and for that we are eternally grateful. They have done marvellous pioneering work down the years. I echo the sentiments of virtually everybody with any concern in the health area.
It is significant that the governing body of the hospital should have sought this. It is correct that we respond in the way that is being done. For that reason it is my intention not to obstruct this order going through the House in any way. It is a positive development. It is certainly anachronistic that in this day and age, under the existing situation, people would have to pay to be a member of the board of the hospital or a governor of the hospital, that they would have to have shares and so on. It is important to remove that anachronism and to facilitate the smooth running of the hospital. This will take the hospital to the end of this century in the right fashion and allow them to develop in a proper way. It is important that any outmoded clauses that might inhibit that development should be removed. For that reason I support this order today and hope that it will pass smoothly through the House.
Mr. Farrell
I welcome this order. This hospital was known as the Royal Hospital for Incurables. The charter was signed on 7 January 1800. It is good to know that down through the centuries we had people who were worried about people's health. Many people put their hands in their pocket and paid the princely sum of 21 guineas, which was a considerable sum of money at that time. That money was paid to help incurables. It proves again the old addage that medical science will always be challenged. It was a hospital for incurables then and today we still have hospitals for incurables. There is a challenge to medical science even today and there will be while the world exists.
When those far-seeing people set up this hospital the situation was that for a fee of 21 guineas, £22.1s, they became governors of the hospital, life-time members. I understand that many governors are still in existance. In the modern day you cannot have any hospital or, indeed, any institution governed by out-dated legislation and it is right that we should introduce this order to bring this hospital, which has done good work down the years, into the modern world and allow them to select a board of directors in the normal way.
I am delighted that both the corporation and the Eastern Health Board will have an input into the new board. We cannot speak highly enough of the amount of work that health boards have done in recent years. It is popular to be critical of health boards but if we look at the positive side they are doing a wonderful job particularly in community care, where no private hospitals are operating. For that reason I am delighted that the Eastern Health Board will be involved in this. I am delighted that the corporation will be involved because it gives elected representatives an opportunity of being on those boards and it has given the new body an opportunity to mortgage or sell, if they so desire, some of the property and put the assets they acquire to better use for the very high motive for which the hospital was built in the first place, to help sick people. I welcome the order.
I must declare my interest at the outset. I am a life governor of the Royal Hospital, Donnybrook, and between 1974 and 1979 I was on the board of management as a nominee of Dublin Corporation. Although it is the intention to abolish the system of governors and life governors, at the moment I have nothing to fear because I understand they are going to wait until we all die out before this new system comes into operation. We are not going to be put off. It is going to take them a very long time. There are people younger than myself who are life governors so it is probably going to take 60 or 70 years before this system dies out but that is the way they have decided to do it.
I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the staff, the board of management, the governors and to everybody associated with the Royal Hospital.
When I went on the board in 1974 it was a very antediluvian institution. My arrival simply happened to coincide with the changes in the hospital. I remember when I first visited the hospital it was dark, dank and dirty. It was a very miserable place. It was at that time still called the Royal Hospital for Incurables and people simply went there to die. They each had their own little closet and they were allowed to bring in all their possessions with them. Everything except the grand piano was brought in which made the position impossible for the staff. Quite dramatic changes took place very rapidly so that it is today a very fine hospital providing every up-to-date facility and care. Great tribute is due to the board of management of the hospital and to all the staff.
Although I am no longer a member of the board I visit the hospital fairly regularly because it is right beside me and I must say I do so because it is a most uplifting experience to go to the hospital and to see the spirit in the place and the encouragement the staff give to the patients. It is an extremely modern hospital now. They have 230 patients living in. The vast majority of them are geriatric patients but there are two rehabilitation wards, short stay wards. That is a very good thing because it gives encouragement to the nursing staff that they have something to work towards, and on occasion they can see such an improvement in a patient that the patient can actually leave the hospital. That is a very good thing.
It is extraordinary and most unfortunate that for over six years the Royal Hospital has been endeavouring to get the changes which are before us today. It says something for the system that it should take so long. They have been put in the position where they have to act ultra vires in their borrowing of money from the banks. All that area is dealt with in sections 4 to 12. Section 12 relates to their ability to borrow money. That needs very much to be updated because it is antediluvian and anachronistic at present. The new governors will be able to invite people who have given distinguished service to the hospital to become governors, or may be able to raise extra finance for the hospital. While the Department of Health have been very generous to the hospital they have, nevertheless, raised vast sums of money through their own endeavours. A lot of the improvements which have been undertaken have been based on the enthusiasm and the commitment of very many voluntary workers who have raised funds for the hospital. I welcome this order.
I am happy to have the opportunity to pay tribute to everybody involved in the running of the hospital. I understand that following this there will be by-laws and perhaps the Minister could enlighten me on one point. Members of the corporation and the health boards are nominees of the corporation and are on the board of management. Will that continue or is that a matter which will be dealt with in the by-laws? It is out-of-date because the corporation no longer give any funds to the hospital. What is the position on that?
I too, should declare my interest as I am on the board of management of the hospital. I will not go over all the praise Senator Hederman has expressed but I agree with every word she spoke. It is only six weeks since I wrote to the Minister and asked him to bring this forward. Happily he did so. I am sure much of the work had been done over the six year period that Senator Hederman spoke about but I thank the Minister for bringing it forward.
When I was much younger I used visit the hospital because a friend of my mother worked there. It was a very depressing hospital. The name was a dreadful one for anybody who was admitted to it —"incurables". Now, because of the work of volunteers, staff and management board the hospital is a very modern, bright and happy one. It is a huge improvement on what it was. That is really due to everybody involved in it, including all the staff and including Senator Manning's sister who is a popular and hard-working nurse there. Many of us have an interest in the hospital.
I welcome the changes that have been made. The position has caused problems for the board. They have mentioned it time and time again over the years. We should do anything we can do to help this board, which is composed of an extremely hard-working, efficient and dedicated group of people. They are an excellent board. I welcome the changes that have been made and I believe the hospital will go on to better things as a result of them.
Senator Ryan has very kindly declared my interest in this matter for me, for which I thank him. I re-echo what Senators Hederman and Ryan have said about this hospital. It is one of the unsung treasures of our health service and the improvements in it in recent years have been quite dramatic. The spirit in the hospital is about the best I have come across in any hospital. It is a pity that the hospital had to wait six years for these changes but I do not think the absence of these changes has held up the improvements which have been mentioned.
I simply want to put on record my appreciation of the work done by the hospital. It is important that people who are working in this very difficult and unglamorous area of health should from time to time know that public representatives appreciate the great work they are doing on behalf of the community.
I thank Senators O'Reilly, Hederman, Ryan and Manning for their contributions and pay a special tribute to Senators Hederman and Ryan and, through Senator Manning, to all those who have been members of the board of management, governors and staff for the great work they have done. I have personal knowledge of the activities in the hospital and I know some of the board of management and governors. I know their commitment and we in the Department of Health deeply appreciate that.
In response to a few queries that were raised, we received a formal request in 1988 to amend the charter. When the board of management discovered that they wanted to move in line with modern management techniques, thinking and attitudes, they found they had to amend the charter.
Some discussions took place and a formal request was made to the Minister for Health in 1988. Subsequent to that, there were further discussions and a submission was made to the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests who cleared the amendment now being made. After that, it was necessary to have the order drafted and put in order legally. We have not wasted any time since the formal request was put to us to get this before the House because we see this as contributing to the evolution of a hospital that is doing an excellent job in geriatric and day care.
The by-laws will provide for the cooption of five out of possibly 30 members from public bodies associated with the hospital. These would include Dublin Corporation, the Eastern Health Board and other organisations and associations at the discretion of the board of management. The Minister for Health's only function is to lay the by-laws before each House of the Oireachtas on receipt of notification from the Royal Hospital that the new by-laws had been adopted by the governors of the hospital. The new by-laws must be submitted to the Minister for Health at least 14 days before they are submitted for approval to the High Court. A new set of by-laws has been prepared by the hospital and it is planned to process these following the amendment of the charter and supplemental charter.
Basically, they are the technical details. I thank the House for the very warm reception it has given to this proposal. We will now take it to the Dáil and have it ratified so that the board of management and the governors can proceed to ensure that the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook has a most modern management facility and opportunity in the years ahead.
I take this opportunity to congratulate Miss Deirdre Lane on her recent appointment as Clerk of the Seanad and Mrs. Patricia O'Grady on her appointment as broadcasting manager. I wish the Cathaoirleach and all the Members of the House a very happy and peaceful Christmas and a bright and joyous New Year.
Question put and agreed to.