asked the Minister for Education if he will indicate when building work will commence on the proposed new Cork Dental Hospital.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cork Dental Hospital.
24.
I am not yet in a position to indicate when building work will commence on the proposed new Cork Dental Hospital. It will not be possible to place the contract until essential preliminary discussions in regard to the tender price have been satisfactorily completed.
Is the Minister aware that a new regional hospital is due to open next September and that it would be in the interests of everybody if work on the Cork Dental Hospital would have commenced before hand due to the fact that they are both on the same site? In the interests of safety and for economic reasons it is an urgent matter at present.
I am pleased to tell the Deputy that I have engraved on my mind a picture of the site at Cork because the Fianna Fáil education subcommittee studied that problem. I know of the triangle on the Wilton site from maps and evidence supplied to me concerning where the dental hospital is to go. The fact is that at the moment contractors are finishing the regional hospital—I am pleased that the Deputy has stated that it will be finished by September next—and negotiations are in progress so that the construction of the Cork Dental Hospital will start and continue apace.