Vol. 562 No. 1
378 Mr. J. Breen asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason the £15 million allocated to Ennis General Hospital two years ago has not been drawn down; and the action he intends taking to ensure this money is spent upgrading this hospital. [5316/03]
I am committed to developing Ennis General Hospital as part of the acute hospital services in the Mid-Western Health Board region. A briefing document has been prepared by the project team which I established. This document sets out the broad scope of the future development of the hospital to be considered in the preparation of a development control plan. The Mid-Western Health Board has identified the following areas as priority areas for development, on completion of the plan; ward upgrade; accident and emergency; radiology; outpatients; and general infrastructure upgrade.
The Mid-Western Health Board has endorsed the briefing document and requested approval to formally appoint the selected design team to prepare the development control plan, DCP.
My Department is at present reviewing the national development plan for the health sector nationally in light of the outturn position for 2002. This process involves providing for existing capital contractual commitments and commencing where possible the planning or construction of new projects nationally in 2003 or beyond. The proposed developments at Ennis will be considered in that context.
