asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether proposals have been submitted to him by the County Kilkenny Board of Public Health for the erection of a modern sanatorium in Kilkenny, and, if so, whether he has sanctioned these proposals and, if not, whether he is in a position to state when sanction will be given.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Proposals for Kilkenny Sanatorium.
No detailed proposal for the erection of a modern sanatorium for Kilkenny has been received. Immediately after the passing of the Public Charitable Hospitals (Amendment) Act, 1931, local authorities were invited to submit to this Department applications for any grants required from Sweepstake Funds for the purpose of establishing sanatoria or other institutions for the treatment of tuberculosis. Many such applications were received from local authorities in various parts of the country and allocations from the funds were made in aid of the establishment of such institutions. It was not, however, until May, 1934, that any proposal in regard to a grant for the establishment of a new sanatorium was received from the Kilkenny Board of Health and Public Assistance. By that time the Public Hospitals Act, 1933, had been passed and the Hospitals Commission had been set up. Part of the duty of the commission is to consider the whole question of the provision to be made for the treatment of tuberculosis and a preliminary report made by the commission on the subject is at present under consideration. Until a decision in regard to this matter shall have been reached, it will not be possible to entertain any applications for grants from the Hospitals Trust Fund in respect of the cost of the establishment of new sanatoria in cases like Kilkenny where allocations from Sweepstakes Funds have not already been made.