Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 11, line 28, to delete "5 ordinary members" and substitute "all ordinary members".

These are technical in nature and consequential to the amendments on the board of Children's Health Ireland that were ruled out of order. While the amendments were ruled out, the reason for their submission still needs to be discussed. The group of amendments relates to the board of Children's Health Ireland.

Sinn Féin believes there are problems with the size and nature of the board. The size is too small so we propose to increase the number to 18. We also feel the additional six positions should cover representatives of ICTU, patient advocates and two members of Dublin City Council, DCC. Representatives of ICTU would be important in relaying concerns of staff across the hospital and would guarantee a healthy working link between the board and staff in the hospital.

In the week that Dr. Scally highlighted the need for more patient advocates within the health service, the inclusion of two patient advocates on the board would strengthen the relationship between it and the parents and their children in the hospital.

A few months ago, before the recess, Seanad Éireann passed a motion unanimously to include parents' voices. In that case, it was related to the national steering group for policy-making for children with complex medical needs. Unfortunately, the HSE, in its wisdom, has ignored this and has thwarted the wishes and motion of Seanad Éireann.

There is a representative of DCC on the current board of Crumlin children's hospital, . This practice should be continued since the size of the hospital is increasing. There should be two DCC representatives. To ensure candidates are satisfactory, I have proposed that all board members be approved by the Oireachtas and that a public interview process be conducted by the Oireachtas Select Committee on Health. That also goes for the other 12 members.

It is not appropriate for the Minister for Health to be allowed to appoint members to the board. The Minister of State spoke about the residents' action groups in the area. I refer to the area within a 1 km radius of the children's hospital at the St. James's campus. The local councillors are doing sterling work. Such people on the ground know what is going on, and they know how to fix things. They know how to talk to residents and serve as the conduit between the board and BAM Ireland, which is the construction company, and the hospital when it is in service.

As it stands, there is a councillor on the board of the children's hospital in Crumlin. Such appointments should be transparent and members of the board need to be appointed transparently in order that they can be questioned on behalf of the public by the Oireachtas.

Unfortunately, I will withdraw the amendment. I will resubmit the amendments ruled out of order, stipulating that we need additional members. We seek to add non-remunerated members with observer status so there will be no cost to the Exchequer.