asked the Minister for Health when the necessary grant will be made available to carry out the extension to St. John's Hospital in Limerick.

Planning of the extension to St. John's Hospital is nearing completion and building work is expected to commence later this year. Funds have been set aside by my Department to meet the agreed cost of the project and payments will be made as work progresses.

8.

asked the Minister for Health if he will consider installing a kidney unit in one of the Limerick hospitals to serve the needs of the area.

The provision of a kidney unit in Limerick would be primarily a matter for the mid-Western Health Board and I have received no proposal from the board in the matter.

I indicated in reply to the Deputy's question of 20 June 1978 in Volume 307, at column 1428 of the Official Report, that the health board had decided at their meeting of 2 June that the provision of a unit would not be justified. I am informed that the board have not rescinded that decision.

A hospital renal maintenance dialysis unit needs specialised staffing including a nephrologist, junior medical staff trained in the techniques of dialysis and in the complications that can arise, specially trained nursing staff, and a technician to service the dialysis machines. For these reasons dialysis units are limited to a small number of the larger hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway.