asked the Minister for Health if, in regard to Dundrum Central Mental Hospital, he will confirm reports that he proposes handing over part of the hospital to the Department of Justice to be operated as a women's prison; if he proposed to site an AIDS treatment unit there; if he will reassure local residents that the existing essential character of the hospital will not be altered; and if he will make a statement in regard to the whole future of the hospital.
Written Answers. - Dundrum (Dublin) Mental Hospital.
87.
The Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum is essentially a hospital for the care and treatment of persons referred from prisons or the courts and it is not anticipated that there will be any change in that role. The Government decided that the new unit built in the grounds of the Central Mental Hospital should be handed over to the Department of Justice to enable facilities to be provided to treat offenders, primarily female offenders, with medical-related problems in modern and hygienic conditions. The Minister for Justice, in reply to Question No. 416 of 22 October 1986, outlined in detail his proposals for the use of the unit.