Michael P. Kitt
Question:197 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Minister for Health when an application was made for a welfare home in Ballinsloe, County Galway; and when a decision will be made.
Written Answers. - Ballinasloe (Galway) Proposed Welfare Home.
Correspondence between the Western Health Board and my Department concerning the provision of a welfare home for the elderly in Ballinasloe dates back to the seventies. A site was purchased by the board in June 1981. Subsequent to that decision, it was decided that the need for welfare accommodation for the elderly could be better met by sheltered housing and boarding out. This approach was endorsed by the Working Party on Services for the Elderly in their report, The Years Ahead.
The development of the site in Ballinasloe as a facility for the care of the elderly will depend on the amount of capital funding made available to the Western Health Board and the board's priorities for service developments.