Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

They are. Apologies for that.

From 2014, therefore, all publicly-funded radiotherapy services in Ireland will be provided as part of an integrated multidisiplinary service involving surgical, medical and radiation oncology. This is in keeping with the recommendations of the Hollywood report.

That there has been great loyalty and support for the hospital over the years from patients and their families who have experienced the services of St. Luke's and also from staff and from the wider community. St. Luke's has combined technical excellence with outstanding patient care. The commitment, expertise, tradition and ethos of the hospital and its staff should not be lost when services move from the site itself in a number of years from now. This was acknowledged by Government in 2005 when it approved the plan.

With the establishment of the St. Luke's network, we have a duty to ensure that the less tangible but immensely valuable aspects of St. Luke's are as much part of the provision of the new services as its more tangible resources. Staff can play a key role here and therefore it is to be welcomed that St. Luke's staff will be in place in all three centres in the network from its establishment.

As many people will be aware, there are organisations that are closely associated with St. Luke's but that are at the same time separate entities. They are not encompassed within this legislation, nor should they be. My Department has liaised closely with the board of St. Luke's on the future of these organisations - the St. Luke's Institute of Cancer Research and the St. Luke's Cancer Research Fund. The focus of both these entities is on cancer research and the continued development of expertise and knowledge and there is widespread agreement that this should continue into the future. I understand that the board of St. Luke's is taking the necessary steps to ensure that these organisations continue to have legally sound structures following the enactment of this legislation and I very much welcome this.

I also want to mention the significant work that has been done by the Friends of St. Luke's Hospital over many years. To date, I understand that the friends of the hospital have raised more than €26 million in funds for various projects within the hospital. The friends of the hospital have been a major force in fundraising for radiation oncology services over the years and I understand that those involved wish to ensure that the great goodwill and support for St. Luke's in the community can continue to benefit cancer patients into the future.

Another key policy area of the Bill relates to the reallocation of certain functions from the health sector to the Department of Social Protection. The Government decided some time ago that in order to increase the effectiveness of the health service generally, it was important that the service concentrated fully on addressing its core health objectives. Accordingly it was felt that there could be scope to transfer certain functions out of the health service and locate them more appropriately within other Departments.

The subsequent Core Functions of the Health Service Report 2006 found that there were a number of schemes which were seen to be more income supports than personal social services. A number of implementation groups were set up to carry out the transfer of functions. One of these, the interdepartmental group on non-supplementary welfare allowance payments, was given specific responsibility to examine the transfer of income supports to the Department of Social Protection. A total of 25,000 domiciliary care allowance cases transferred from the HSE to that Department in 2009. In this context the infectious diseases maintenance allowance, IDMA, was examined by the group. The IDMA was originally introduced in 1947 for a specified list of diseases, including TB.

In a situation where policy is moving towards mainstreaming supports for people with a disability, the sustainability of a separate income support payment for a prescribed set of diseases must be questioned. The group found that the key objectives of thescheme were now met by other allowances, in particular the disability allowance and supplementary welfare allowance. The incidence of the specified infectious diseases has been steadily declining and the number of people in receipt of the allowance in 2009 was fewer than 20. The group therefore decided to ask the HSE to examine the small number in receipt of the allowance with a view to establishing their eligibility and suitability for transfer to the appropriate equivalent Department of Social Protection.

The HSE completed its examination of the small number of recipients in 2009. It found that some were no longer eligible for the allowance and others were suitable for transfer to the appropriate Department of Social Protection. It should be noted that the weekly payment rates for this allowance, the supplementary welfare allowance and the disability allowance were the same and therefore those who transferred to a new payment were not disadvantaged.

The HSE has informed my Department that no one is currently in receipt of this maintenance allowance and there are no applications or appeals on hand. Therefore, it has been decided to remove the infectious disease maintenance allowance from statute by repealing section 44 of the Health Act 1947 and section 36(2) of the Health Act 1953.

I will refer to the principal features of the Bill. Part 1, comprising sections 1 to 4, inclusive, contains standard provisions dealing with the Short Title, commencement, definition and expenses. Section 3 removes the Health Service Executive's duty to provide an infectious diseases maintenance allowance and also revokes the St. Luke's Hospital Board (Establishment) Order 1999. Parts of the legislation will come into operation by ministerial order and different provisions will be brought into operation at different times.

I will deal with the specific provisions of the Bill that relate to St. Luke's, that is, Part 2 of the Bill, sections 5 to 13, inclusive. Section 5 provides for the board of St. Luke's Hospital to be dissolved.

Section 6 provides for the transfer of land and other property of St. Luke's to the HSE. The Bill also includes a provision that the site may not be disposed of in any way without the permission of the Minister. Many people will be familiar with the location of St. Luke's and the attractive grounds of the hospital. How this site may be used in the future will be on many people's minds. I understand that the Friends of St. Luke's and the board have been considering the future use of the hospital after 2014 and I understand that proposals will be submitted to me in the near future in this regard. I look forward to receiving these proposals. I have previously stated that I believe St. Luke's has a future within the public health service and I will consult with the friends of St. Luke's, the HSE and other interested parties on how the site could best be used for the benefit of patients.

Sections 7, 8 and 9 are standard provisions dealing with the transfer of rights and liabilities of St. Luke's board to the HSE, the preservation of contracts and pending legal proceedings.

Section 10 relates to the transfer of St. Luke's staff to the HSE. The transfer of staff is being done to support the future provision of radiation oncology services within a network model. For staff, some of whom will transfer to other sites in the network at the end of this year, and some of whom will remain at St. Luke's for a number of years to come, this provision provides certainty as regards their future conditions of employment. All current employees of St. Luke's at the date of transfer will become employees of the HSE on conditions and pay that are no less beneficial than those that they currently have. Superannuation benefits and reckonable service will also transfer with the employees. Furthermore, the Bill provides that the pension liabilities of St. Luke's will now become the pension liabilities of the HSE. This Bill therefore provides certainty about the future for pensioners of St. Luke's also. These provisions are similar to those under which the national screening service staff transferred to the HSE in April of this year.

Sections 11,12 and 13 are standard provisions dealing with the transfer of records and the preparation of a final report and final accounts of St. Luke's Board for submission to the Minister and the Oireachtas.

Part 3 of the Bill, sections 14 to 17, deal with various miscellaneous technical and textual amendments. Section 14 updates the definition of "nursing home" in the Health (Nursing Homes) Act 1990 to reflect the new legal framework for the regulation of nursing homes, namely the Health Act 2007. Section 15 is a technical amendment to the Health Act 2007 to enable a decision by a chief inspector of social services to take immediate effect in cases where the registered provider or applicant informs the chief inspector that he or she accepts the decision. Section 16 makes textual amendments to the Medical Practitioners Act to correct typographical errors. Section 17 updates the definition of "proprietor" in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act to reflect the new legal framework for the regulation of nursing homes. It also amends the definitions of "allowable deduction" and "minimum retained income threshold" to ensure that they take account of situations where both members of a couple enter long-term residential care.

The contribution of St. Luke's Hospital board and its staff to the provision of cancer services has been immense. I take this opportunity to acknowledge this contribution and to thank the board members, the management and staff for their commitment and dedication. It is also very important to say that the board has provided great support and cooperation for the process of integration into the cancer programme.

I look forward to the ethos and sense of professionalism, which is so much a part of St. Luke's, contributing to the continued successful implementation of the cancer control programme and in particular the new St. Luke's radiation oncology network.

I commend the Bill to the House.

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