Vol. 478 No. 7
86 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health the waiting lists in Temple Street Hospital, Dublin 1, for all procedures; if his attention has been drawn to difficulties regarding the provision of services; and the submission, if any, he has received on the matter. [12196/97]
Limerick East): The latest information available to my Department from Temple Street relates to the numbers of patients who are waiting in excess of six months for an inpatient appointment as of December 1996. On the basis of that information, there are a total of 530 patients waiting for all procedures at Temple Street.
The Deputy will wish to know that my Department has made substantial development funding available to the hospital in 1997 in respect of developments in radiology, ENT, plastic surgery, general surgery, anaesthetics and nephrology.
In addition, during 1996 a sum of £44,000 was made available to the hospital under the waiting list initiative. This additional funding enabled the hospital to carry out an additional 85 procedures in ENT, plastic surgery, paediatric surgery and urology.
I am confident that this investment by my Department in the hospital will impact positively on the waiting times for inpatient procedures. Furthermore, the Deputy may be aware that a sum of £8 million is being made available in 1997 in respect of the waiting list initiative. As in previous years, it will be targeted at those specialities with particular difficulties with regard to waiting lists. It will be open to the hospital to bid for funding under the initiative in respect of problem specialities.
