Speech by the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D., at the presentation of the O'Moore Medal at the Annual Conference of the Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland (HISI), in the Stillorgan Park Hotel,on Wednesday, 21 November, 2007 at 6.30pm
I am delighted to have been asked to join you this evening to present the O'Moore Medal, introduced by the Healthcare Informatics Soicety of Ireland in 2003 to mark outstanding contributions to healthcare informatics. It is always a great pleasure to participate in events like this and, dating back to my time in the Mater, I have had a particular interest in this Society over the years.
Healthcare informatics can make a very significant contribution to improved healthcare efficiency, cost - effectiveness and safety. It can help create a better working environment for healthcare professionals. Most important of all, it can lead to improved patient experiences and outcomes.
The Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland has long recognised this. It has played a key role over the years in facilitating discussion and dissemination of developments in healthcare informatics among practitioners and users of healthcare systems in Ireland.
The person we are honouring this evening is Professor Jane Grimson. Professor Grimson lectured in Computer Science in Trinity College Dublin from 1980 and now holds a personal chair at TCD in Health Informatics. She has served as Dean of Engineering and Pro Dean of Research and was the first lady Vice Provost of Trinity. She has been President of the HISI for the past eight years.
Professor Grimson founded the Centre for Health Informatics at Trinity College in 1990 with Professor Rory O'Moore. Working at the Centre with her husband Bill, she made a major contribution to the development of the concept of the active electronic health record. The Centre has also made a very important contribution in the area of children's health.
Ait Eile, the virtual community which it developed for children in hospital, is a particularly imaginative use of technology to help children, especially children with chronic conditions, cope with the difficulties of hospitalisation.
Jane is an outstanding academic but she has never been one for the ivory tower. She has served as President of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, the Irish Academy of Engineering, and the Irish Computer Society.
She chairs the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology. She belongs to a number of Boards, including the Board of Science Foundation Ireland, the Energy Research Council, and the European Research Advisory Board. In addition to all of this, Jane has not hesitated to put her talents at the disposal of the wider world. I understand, for example, that she is currently working on new ways of strengthening health systems in sub - Saharan Africa, using mobile technology.
Jane has attributed much of her interest in engineering to her father, William Wright. I am told he regularly brought her with him to his workplace, where she could see at first hand the engineering projects he was engaged in. I was also interested to learn that Jane was the first woman in 165 years of its history to be elected President of the Institution of Engineers in Ireland; and that her father had previously held the same position. Jane has also been active in promoting engineering generally as a career among young women. She chaired a committee in the Department of Education and Science aimed at increasing the participation of girls in careers in Science, Engineering and Technology.
As she steps down from her term of office in the HISI, the Society felt this would be an opportune time to honour Jane's many achievements in advancing healthcare informatics to date, both in Ireland and more widely. I would like to take the opportunity to express my own appreciation to Jane and on behalf of the Government, for her enormous contribution to the development of science and technology in Ireland.
Ireland has a rich scientific heritage. Just think of William Rowan Hamilton and Robert Boyle, whose statues stand on either side of the entrance to Government Buildings. Today, science, technology, innovation and application are more important to this country than at any time in the past. Recognising this, the Government is investing €8.2 billion in Science, Technology and Innovation under the NDP - and over the next five years, we aim to double the number of PhDs, with particular emphasis on science, engineering and technology. We need a lot more people like Jane Grimson. I hope and trust that many others will be inspired by her example to come forward and help us achieve our national objective of building a first rate, knowledge - based economy.
On a lighter note, I had the pleasure of presenting this medal to Professor Rory O'Moore in 2003 and Professor Georges De Moor in 2005. These were, of course, two outstanding candidates for the award but, all the same, I was a little bit worried that some sort of pattern was emerging, given the similarity in names. This evening, however, I can lay my fears to rest. It gives me great pleasure to present the O'Moore Medal to Professor Jane Grimson, in honour of her outstanding contribution to healthcare informatics.
Thank you very much for your attention.
ENDS.