Breeda Moynihan-Cronin
Ceist:248 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the provision of a new community hospital in Tralee, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29113/03]
Written Answers. - Hospitals Building Programme.
The provision of health services in the Kerry area is a matter for the Southern Health Board in the first instance. The board included a proposal to develop a 50 bed community nursing unit in Tralee as part of its national development plan, 2000-06, which was submitted to my Department. A project team was established in May 2001 to progress this development. The project team has identified the preferred site for this development on land attached to Tralee General Hospital. The selected site is a three acre site, accessible from the Killerisk Road, which will allow for the community nursing unit to be developed independently from the general hospital campus.
The project team has prepared a design brief and the cost of the project is in the order of €8.5 million at a September 2002 price base date, excluding revenue costs. My Department gave approval to the appointment of a design team in February 2003. The design team has submitted the stage two report, which was approved by my Department on 6 October 2003. The team is working on stage three of the planning process. My Department fully appreciates the importance of progressing this development and will continue to work closely with the Southern Health Board on this project.
Breeda Moynihan-Cronin
Ceist:249 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the provision of a new hospital in Dingle, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29114/03]
Responsibility for the provision of health services in County Kerry rests with the Southern Health Board in the first instance. The development of a new 72 bed community hospital in Dingle is being planned by the board under its national development plan, 2000-06. Agreement has been reached on the purchase of the site for the new community hospital and the legal documentation for the transfer of the site to the ownership of the board is currently being completed. The board has received planning permission for the development from Kerry County Council and has progressed to stages four and five of planning for the project.