asked the Minister for Health if he has received a report of an incident at the Limerick City Hospital in February 1958; if he has investigated the report; and what action, if any, he intends to take.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Report on Limerick Hospital Incident.
7.
I received a report in February 1958 of an incident that occurred at the Limerick City Home and Hospital on 15th January 1958. I had inquiries made about the matter and conveyed my views to the Health Authority who took appropriate action. I do not consider that any further action is called for by me.
Would the Minister inform the House what action he has taken? In this particular instance——
The Deputy may only ask a question.
What action was taken with regard to the scourging of a juvenile patient?
Question No. 8.
I want an answer to my question. The R.M.S. in this case ordered the scourging of a juvenile patient. The matter was reported to the Minister and I want to know what action he has taken.
The Deputy may not make a statement now.
I am asking a question.
May I call your attention to the fact, Sir, that this incident is alleged to have occurred in February, 1958, that I had inquiries made about the matter and conveyed my views to the Health Authority, who took appropriate action. Since the House passed my Estimate for 1959 and in the course of doing so, discussed my administration of the Department during 1958, the question is certainly on the borderline of order.
I want to know what action was taken with regard to the R.M.S., who diagnosed the patient's ailment and ordered the scourging of the patient. I want to know what action was recommended by the Minister to the Limerick Health Authority. I am a member of the Authority and I know nothing about it.
The Deputy has repeated that question.
I want to know what recommendations were made to the Limerick Health Authority.
The Deputy is under a misapprehension. He was not a member of the Health Authority in 1958——
I am a member now and I heard nothing about the scourging of this patient.
That membership is not retroactive.
What action has the Minister taken in regard to the man who ordered the scourging?
The Deputy has got an answer.
I have got no answer. I want to know what action the Minister has taken. Is the Minister refusing to reply?
The Deputy must resume his seat.
He will resume his seat when he gets a satisfactory answer.
The Deputy will resume his seat on the instructions of the Chair.
I want an answer to my question and I am not getting it.
The Minister has answered the question. I cannot proceed any further in the matter.
The Deputy has asked what action the Minister intends to take. Are we to take it the Minister will not say what action has been taken?
I have already taken action in 1958, appropriate action.
Does the Minister refuse to say what action he has taken?
I shall not help any Deputy to carry on a private vendetta.
Nonsense. A juvenile patient was scourged on the orders of the R.M.S.
The statement the Deputy made is not true. There was no scourging on the orders of the R.M.S.
There was a scourging.
Why does the Minister refuse to say what action was taken?
I took appropriate action.
What action was it?
In any event, this incident occurred in 1958. The Deputy and others had full opportunity of raising that on my Estimate in 1959 and did not do it.
The Deputy was not here in 1959. The Deputy sent all the relevant papers to the Minister——
That was good fortune for the House and the people of Limerick.
——together with photographs and statements. I want to know what action the Minister has taken with regard to the scourging of a juvenile patient in the Limerick City Hospital ordered by the RMS.
Question No. 8.