asked the Minister for Health whether he is aware that the plot of ground at Parnell Square adjoining the Rotunda Hospital and intended for use in connection with a neo-natal clinic, was already earmarked as the site for a national memorial to all those who laid down their lives in the fight to establish an Irish Republic, and if he will state whether he has taken over this site permanently or merely as a temporary expedient.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - National Memorial Site.
I am aware of the position referred to by the Deputy and it was only in consideration of the urgency of taking action to reduce infant mortality in Dublin that I agreed to recommend that the memorial plot should be made available as a site for a temporary infant welfare unit at the Rotunda Hospital. This is a purely temporary arrangement and is intended to meet the position only while the hospital authorities are developing proposals for a permanent unit which will not entail encroachment on the memorial site.
Am I right in taking it that the Minister can assure the House that the memorial plot project has not been abandoned?
So far as I am aware there is no question of abandoning the proposed scheme for the provision of a memorial park in that area.
It is merely in abeyance.
What was in abeyance will now be given effect to. That is what shook you.