Vol. 493 No. 3
298 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children when the new structures within the Eastern Health Board will be put in place; if Naas, County Kildare will continue as the administrative centre for Kildare; and the overall effect he envisages these new structures will have on services within the county. [16169/98]
Legislation to establish the new eastern regional health authority is currently being prepared in the parliamentary draftsman's office. It will be published in the autumn. The task force on the eastern regional health authority is engaged at present in making the organisational and administrative preparations for the new structures, which will be based on the recommendations put forward in the task force's interim report of June 1997. As stated in that report, the new arrangements will have the potential to effect substantial improvements in the co-ordination and integration of services and should enable the delivery of health and personal social services in the region to be brought closer to the people.
