asked the Minister for Health (a) the annual grant to the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, (b) the number of beds available in this hospital for ophthalmic treatment, and (c) the total number of consultants attached to the hospital; and whether he considers the facilities at this hospital adequate to meet the needs of the population.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital.
59.
Mr. O'Malley
The answer is as follows:
(a) There is not an annual grant, as such, but a payment is made towards the revenue deficits in respect of each year, based on the audited accounts.
The latest year for which grant has been finally determined on that basis is the year ended 31st December, 1963, for which a grant of £50,378 was paid.
(b) There are 86 beds allocated to patients receiving ophthalmic treatment, and a further 11 beds may be made available as required.
(c) It is not the practice of my Department to require voluntary hospitals to supply particulars of their consultant staffs nor do I consider that the total number of consultants attached to a hospital is a reliable indication of the volume of services provided. The needs of the population are not dependent solely on the services provided by the hospital to which the question refers, and I would refer the Deputy to the statement on ophthalmic services included in my reply on the 28th October last to a previous question.
What other hospitals can offer ophthalmic treatment in Dublin sufficient to meet the demand?
Mr. O'Malley
The Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Jervis Street Hospital, the Mater Misercordiae Hospital, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, St. Joseph's Hospital, Temple Street. Ophthalmic surgery is also performed at the Regional Hospital, Limerick, St. John's Hospital, Limerick and other hospitals outside of Limerick.
Does the Minister not agree that the number of beds available in general hospitals is negligible compared with the Royal Victoria Hospital and the 86 beds for Dublin city and, indeed, the whole country, is far from sufficient to meet the demands of the people?
The Deputy is making an argument, not asking a question.
Would the Minister not agree that 86 beds is insufficient?
Mr. O'Malley
The position is not as satisfactory as I should wish it to be.
Has the Minister's attention been drawn to the fact that a number of persons resident in rural Ireland, suffering from cataracts are adjudged by their local ophthalmic surgeons to be suitable for surgery but have to wait unduly long periods before the accommodation can be found for them in an ophthalmic hospital to permit of the removal of the cataracts and that considerable unnecessary suffering is caused during the protracted period of blindness?
Mr. O'Malley
I am satisfied that the waiting period is unsatisfactory and that hardships are being caused by the delay.
Does the Minister think that it will be possible in the reasonably early future to catch up on this delay?