Nora Owen
Question:108 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health and Children the commitments, if any, he made recently to St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane, County Dublin; and when the additional resources will be spent. [8444/98]
Written Answers. - Public Mental Hospitals.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Eastern Health Board is responsible for the provision of all health services, including psychiatric services, in its catchment area. Acute in-patient psychiatric services for the north Dublin catchment area are currently provided for in St. Ita's Hospital. The board's plans for the development of St. Ita's Hospital and for the development of acute psychiatric services in north Dublin includes the provision of a modern acute psychiatric unit in Beaumont Hospital to replace acute in-patient facilities being provided at St. Ita's Hospital.
I am committed to providing the necessary resources to enable this development to proceed and for the completion and commissioning of the acute unit at the earliest possible date. Pending the provision of the acute unit at Beaumont Hospital, the admission and assessment facilities at St. Ita's Hospital will be upgraded. I have provided capital funding of £550,000 to the Eastern Health Board for this purpose and this funding has been included in my Department's capital programme.
The Eastern Health Board has also submitted its development plan for the mental handicap services in St Ita's Hospital. The funding of this plan is currently under discussion with officials of my Department for inclusion in the four year capital programme which I announced last December. In the meantime, a special maintenance programme has been established for the mental handicap services in the hospital and I have made £250,000 available for this programme in 1998. I understand that it is the board's intention to spend these allocations this year.