asked the Minister for Health what is the cause of the delay in putting into operation the kidney unit at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, where the staff and nurses have completed the necessary training.
25.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Galway Hospital Kidney Unit.
24.
asked the Minister for Health whether, in view of the fact that the establishment of a kidney unit at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway was agreed in principle 18 months ago to assist people from the West of Ireland suffering from chronic renal disease, he will state when this unit will be in operation.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I will take questions No. 24 and 25 together. The locating of a renal dialysis unit at the Merlin Park Hospital was approved by my Department in December, 1968. Proposals in regard to the appointment of an architect to plan the necessary alternations were received in the Department on 24th July, 1969. The appointment was approved and a meeting was held in Merlin Park between my professional advisers and the professional advisers of the health authority on 9th October last to discuss the planning of the unit. Following the discussion, detailed advice in relation to planning considerations was issued to the health authority on 31st October. Plans were submitted by the health authority on 22nd December last and these plans were, subject to some minor modifications, approved on 30th January. The health authority were informed at the same time that it would not be necessary to submit any further plans for the same scheme unless there was a radical departure from the scheme which was discussed at the meeting in Merlin Park on 9th October last.
The health authority can now proceed with the completion of the planning and the obtaining of tenders.
Can the Minister state how long it will take before this is brought to fruition?
Can the Minister say when he hopes it will be in operation?
This now, as I see it, is a matter for the local health authority. As I said in the last sentence of the reply, the health authority can now proceed with the completion of the planning and the obtaining of tenders.
Will the Minister state whether correspondence in regard to sanction for tenders will be going up and down for six or eight months before anything is done?
It is obvious that the Deputy was not listening to the reply.
I was listening but I know what can happen.
The Deputy referred to correspondence in regard to sanction for tenders going up and down for the last number of months and I said in the reply that we have now given sanction to the obtaining of tenders.
The Minister stated that this started in December, 1968. There are no signs of its being built and put into operation. Does the Minister not think it is a long time: from December, 1968, until February, 1970?
As I explained in the reply, the necessary discussions have taken place between the local authority, the medical officers in Galway and the officials of the Department of Health. Considering the reply, I do not think that there has been any undue delay. Certainly, there has been no specific delay.
I can assure the Minister there has been undue delay. Is the Minister further aware that approximately 30 people die every year in the western region due to the fact that this unit is not in operation there? Is the Minister aware that hospitals in Dubling which have such a unit are refusing to take patients from the West of Ireland in future?
I am not so aware.
The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs might tell that to the Minister who should be here and is not.
That is very unfair. The Tánaiste is in the Seanad. He cannot be in two places at once.
The Minister will agree that obviously when this project was approved in December, 1968, there was a need for it then and that it is taking a long time to get it into operation?
The location of this unit was approved in December, 1968. Arising from that decision, various steps had to be taken in regard to the type of unit and its setting up. I do not think 12 months is an excessively long period.