Vol. 485 No. 2
215 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will give details by category of the additional staff complement approved by him for Mullingar General Hospital; when recruiting will commence in this regard; when staff will be appointed; when the new X-ray and accident and emergency units will open; the amount of money allocated for 1998 for those appointments; and the expected annual cost of these additional appointments. [22970/97]
I have allocated £1.5 million in 1998 to enable Longford/Westmeath General Hospital to be commissioned. The exact details of the grades of staff involved will be a matter for discussion between the Midland Health Board and my Department, but I anticipate that in wholetime equivalent terms, approximately 80 staff will be required when the new facilities are fully operational. The Midland Health Board has commenced the process of selecting and recruiting staff for the facilities. I am anxious that the development be commissioned as early as possible in 1998 and the Midland Health Board is taking all possible steps to achieve this.
The new x-ray and accident and emergency departments will be a critical element of the new facilities and the Midland Health Board will move to commission them as soon as the necessary staff are in place.
