asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to statements made by members of the Killarney Mental Hospital at their last monthly meeting concerning the attitude of his Department in regard to the allocation of a grant to facilitate the building of an extension to the hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter, particularly as to the general scale of appropriate building grants available over the past ten years.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Killarney Mental Hospital Extension.
6.
My attention has been drawn to the statements made at the meeting referred to. These statements envisaged a grant allocation from the Hospitals Trust Fund of 30 per cent. of the cost of an approved bed extension scheme at Killarney Mental Hospital.
I have recently decided that the present position of the Hospitals Trust Fund would justify the granting of assistance towards the cost of a limited programme of urgent and essential improvement works at mental hospitals and a standard grant of 40 per cent. towards the cost of such works as may be approved by my Department is being offered. This decision will, in the case of the Killarney extension project, be conveyed formally to the mental hospital authority as soon as revised proposals, which are under consideration by them, have been received.
I should be very happy, of course, to allocate a higher grant percentage in the case of mental hospital projects but the Deputy will appreciate that the present and prospective position of the Hospitals Trust Fund does not permit me to be more generous.
As regards the last part of the Deputy's question, the amount of building works carried out in mental hospitals during the last ten years has been relatively limited and the percentage grant allowed for such works was generally in the region of 25 per cent. to 30 per cent. for approved works.