Martin Cullen
Ceist:3 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Health the hospices in the country that are, at present, accepting patients who are terminally ill with AIDS; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Hospice Care.
Hospice services are provided by health boards for all terminally ill patients. In general while the bulk of such services for AIDS patients have to date been provided on a community basis I am not aware of any case where AIDS sufferers were discriminated against in regard to the provision of such inpatient services where required. The National AIDS strategy committee recommended that Hospice Care be developed to cater for the likely increased number of deaths from AIDS over the coming years. This would include the provision of some inpatient Hospice Care facilities, particularly in city areas. I propose to act on those recommendations and a number of designated beds will be provided in 1994. This process will commence in Dublin, Cork and Limerick and be extended to other areas as the need arises.