I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 73 together.
The Tallaght Hospital project is at a very advanced stage in the planning process and the Tallaght Hospital Board have recently submitted a list of selected tenderers for approval by my Department. This list is currently being considered in the Department.
The question of allocating funds to enable a start to be made on the project will be considered in the context of the capital funds available to my Department in 1991. The construction period for the project is estimated at four years. The expected date of opening and the extent to which the new facilities will be available on that date will depend on several factors which are difficult to predict at this stage. On average, however, equiping and commissioning of a hospital project of this size would take 18 months after the completion of the building work.
The specifications for the contract for this building project will include a "local labour" clause as follows:
Persons engaged upon the works should in so far as is practicable and without affecting the efficiency of the work be recruited from the local offices of the National Manpower Service to the extent that the total labour requirement of the contract exceeds the contractor's core workforce.
In relation to the medical procedures which will be available at the hospital, I have already given an assurance on my own behalf and on behalf of the Government in statements made to the Seanad and in this House and elsewhere that 40 places will be reserved for training nurses from the Adelaide tradition and that all medical procedures now available at the Adelaide will also be available at Tallaght.
