Amendment No. 18 has already been discussed with amendment No. 5.
SECTION 12.
I move amendment No. 18:
In page 17, subsection (2), line 35, to delete "section" and substitute "Act".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 19:
In page 17, lines 44 and 45 and in page 18, lines 1 to 19, to delete subsections (4), (5) and (6).
Subsection (4) provides that the Minister for Health, with the consent of the Minister for Equality and Law Reform, may make an order the effect of which will be to permit discrimination on the grounds of religion in respect of the reservation of places on a prereservation programme in a nursing school. I agree with the view of Congress that trainees should be recruited on their ability to do the job, not on their religious beliefs. The skills of nursing concern the care and treatment of patients and have nothing to do with a nurse's religious convictions or lack of them. I propose we delete this provision.
I appreciate that subsections (4), (5) and (6) of section 12 are unusual and warrant some explanation. In preparing this legislation the issue arose of how to accommodate the special arrangements which the health authorities sought to apply to safeguard the continued provision of some trainee nurse places on a denominational basis at the new Tallaght hospital. I am glad Deputy Flood is present because he will understand the issue I am discussing. This proposal was considered carefully before being enshrined in the Bill. In particular, I sought to apply a tight control on its operation.
Accordingly, not only have I provided that any proposal to create such an exclusion will require the approval of the Minister for Health and the Minister for Equality and Law Reform, I have also sought the participation of both Houses of the Oireachtas by requiring the adoption of a resolution approving the order by each House. In addition, the conditions for resorting to this power involve an application by a hospital board or hospital management which must satisfy the Minister for Health of the need for an exclusion based on the religious sensitivities of different descriptions of patients in the State. This power is particularly relevant to meet the needs of minority denominations in the State in regard to whom it is important to be sensitive and, in the circumstances, I appeal to Deputy Keogh to reconsider her proposed deletion of this provision.
The Minister said this is a specific provision which will be tightly controlled. I accept the Minister's argument. It is important to have tight restrictions and I hope we are satisfied with the controls the Minister said will be put in place.
The Minister is attempting to address a situation which developed with the agreement to amalgamate three hospitals in the new Tallaght Hospital, the board of which was first established in 1979 by Deputy Woods and supported by different Governments since then. Eminent people were invited by different Ministers to participate in negotiations and discussions in an effort to reach an agreement to allow the three hospitals to merge into one hospital on the Tallaght site. At times it seemed they might not be able to reach agreement and that the issue the Minister is addressing in this legislation might have scuppered the proposal to bring the Meath, Adelaide and National Children's Hospitals together on one site in Tallaght. I strongly support the Minister's stance in this regard. The majority of people in Tallaght and the surrounding areas welcome this agreement. They also understand and support the Adelaide Hospital's special requirements. I am glad this matter is being properly dealt with in legislation. I hope the special relationship between the three hospitals will not cause any problems.
I did not table an amendment because I guessed the reason behind this provision. The agreement reached shows we are part of a pluralist society in which people feel their entitlements are safeguarded. This is a generous safeguard which has been agreed by all the participants and I trust it will work well in practice. It will give the three hospitals the opportunity to learn to work together on the new site in Tallaght. This hospital, which is now well under way, will be one of the foremost hospitals in the country.
I am glad this agreement was reached through negotiation. I will withdraw the amendment.
I am grateful to Deputy Keogh for withdrawing the amendment and to Deputies Flood and Woods for their comments. I may make a technical amendment to section 12(5) and (6) on Report Stage.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Section 12, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 13 to 15, inclusive, agreed to.