Vol. 415 No. 1
368 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health the reason when appointing the new board of St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8 she breached the provision of the Programme for Government that 40 per cent of places be reserved for women since there are now only three women on the 18 person hospital board.
Fifteen of the 18 members of St. James's Hospital Board are appointed on the nomination of various interested bodies such as the Eastern Health Board, St. James's Hospital, Federated Dublin Voluntary Hospitals and Trinity College.
The chairman and two other members of the board, one of whom must be an officer of my Department, are appointed by me. In considering whom to appoint, I was particularly conscious of the fact that the restructuring proposals for the eastern region have yet to be implemented and it was primarily for this reason that I concluded that the board would best be served by reappointing the three outgoing members for a period of one year only.
I will also be bringing the recommendations of the Commission of the Status of Women to the attention of all nominating bodies. I will, of course, continue to bear the recommendations of the commission in mind when I am considering appointments to boards.
