asked the Minister for Health whether at any time during the past five years it was intimated to the Galway county manager that plans, etc., should be prepared and submitted to his Department for the erection of an auxiliary hospital at Ballinasloe; and, if so, whether he will state (a) the date on which such intimation was given; (b) whether such plans have been submitted; (c) the date on which they were received in his Department; and if he will further state if it is his intention to proceed with the erection of this auxiliary hospital in, conjunction with the erection of a regional hospital in Galway.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Ballinasloe Auxiliary Hospital.
(a) After protracted correspondence which commenced in 1925 with the local authority a letter was issued from my Department to the Galway County Council on 9th April, 1947, stating that plans should be prepared for a 50-bed hospital at Ballinasloe; (b) these plans were not submitted to the Department; (c) as upon further consideration it was decided that the best method of providing the required number of beds at Ballinasloe was by extending the hospital at Portiuncula, Ballinasloe, run by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters. This hospital for which a block grant of £150,000 from the Hospitals' Trust Fund has been promised will have additional accommodation for 85 patients sent by local authorities and 15 private patients. Plans for the hospital are being prepared and it is expected that work will commence shortly.
Does this mean that the auxiliary hospital is being abandoned?
For Ballinasloe?
Yes.
Obviously it will not be necessary to provide a separate hospital in Ballinasloe as the patients of the local hospital can be catered for in the Portiuncula hospital run by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters.
Did I understand the Minister to say that the correspondence in this case started in 1925?
Yes, the Deputy is quite right—in 1925.