Vol. 417 No. 9
217 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Health if he will outline for each health board area, (a) the number of chaplains employed by each board, (b) their religious denomination and (c) the total cost incurred by providing this religious service.
Section 39 of the Health Act, 1970 provides for the performance of religious services in institutions administered by health boards. The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following tabular statement. It will be appreciated that the service commitment of chaplains will vary in accordance with the particular needs of patients in individual institutions and will not necessarily involve full-time commitment.
|
Health Boards |
Number of Chaplains Providing Services |
Roman Catholic |
Church of Ireland |
Presbyterian- Methodist |
Annual Cost of Services |
|
£ |
|||||
|
Eastern |
45 |
21 |
14 |
10 |
225,713 |
|
Midland |
26 |
16 |
10 |
— |
60,591 |
|
Mid-Western |
24 |
14 |
9 |
1 |
68,205 |
|
North Eastern |
28 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
55,555 |
|
North Western |
33 |
15 |
9 |
9 |
38,974 |
|
South Eastern |
34 |
21 |
13 |
— |
108,869 |
|
Southern |
60 |
37 |
22 |
1 |
195,640 |
|
Western |
21 |
14 |
7 |
— |
94,961 |
