asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on future maternity services in County Monaghan.
Written Answers. - County Monaghan Maternity Services.
200.
The current maternity service in Monaghan General Hospital will continue in its present form pending the completion and commissioning of the maternity department at the new Cavan hospital, which has been designed to provide maternity services for the Cavan-Monaghan area.
The new Cavan hospital, which is expected to be commissioned in 1988, will be equipped and staffed to provide an improved maternity service for the women of both Cavan and Monaghan. This maternity service will be supported and improved by the provision of a permanent consultant staffed paediatric service in Cavan to provide specialised care for new-born babies.
When this improved maternity service in the new Cavan hospital is provided, inpatient maternity services in Monaghan General Hospital will cease. The out-patient facilities at Monaghan General Hospital will be improved and consultant staffed out-patient maternity clinics will be held there on a regular basis for the women of Monaghan. Consultant staffed paediatric out-patient clinics will also be held there.