asked the Minister for Health whether his Department approved of the payment of salaries in accordance with the Departmental circular M.H. 39/51 of 7th June, 1951, to the senior nursing staffs of the Killarney Mental Hospital with retrospective effect to the date when the patient population reached the figure of 1,000.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Salaries of Killarney Mental Hospital Staff.
7.
The principle of payment of salaries to the senior nursing staffs of Mental Hospitals with a patient population of 1,000 or more, at a higher rate than that applicable to staffs of Mental Hospitals with a patient population of under 1,000, was approved by Departmental Circular M.M. 38/52 dated the 2nd September, 1952. The application of that principle in any particular hospital is a matter primarily for the hospital authority concerned.
I understand that steps have recently been taken to revise the salary scales of senior nursing staffs in Killarney Mental Hospital with effect from 1st April, 1960, on the basis that, as from that date, the patient population of the hospital was over 1,000.