asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether, in view of the failure of the County Carlow Board of Health and Public Assistance to proceed with the hospitalisation scheme for the County Carlow, he will state what steps he proposes to take to ensure that adequate hospital services are provided in the county.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Hospital Services for County Carlow.
The failure of the board of health and public assistance to proceed with the provision of a new county hospital and a new fever hospital at Carlow will entail the withdrawal of the offer of the grant for these institutions. There are hospitals required in other parts of the country to which grants cannot be allocated owing to the present commitments of the Hospitals Trust Fund and unless the Carlow Board of Health quickly change their attitude the course I have indicated will have to be adopted.
Arising out of the Parliamentary Secretary's reply, may I ask if he does not consider that he has some statutory duty to perform in the matter of requiring the Carlow Board of Health and Public Assistance to provide up-to-date hospital services for the people of the county? Does he propose to exercise that statutory duty in this matter?
These works in Carlow are admittedly desirable and urgent, but there are other counties in which such services are required, where it has not been found possible to start hospitalisation work and where the problem is equally urgent. There are so many counties remaining in which these works are required that it is not intended to compel the Board of Health in Carlow to proceed.
Arising out of the Parliamentary Secretary's reply, will he arrange with the Minister to enable local elections to be held in Carlow so that the people of the county will have an opportunity of putting into office a board of health which will proceed with this work? Surely the Department of the Parliamentary Secretary have a special responsibility to exercise their statutory powers in this matter, seeing that they are preventing the people of the County Carlow from electing a board of health which will carry out this necessary work.