asked the Minister for Health the percentage of an old age pension that the North-Western Health Board are entitled to retain in respect of a person's stay in hospital; and if she will state in the case of a married couple, whether a certain amount of the patient's pension should be allocated to the spouse who is not in hospital.

The North-Western Health Board are entitled under the provisions of the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations, 1976, to charge a person for hospital services who is not a person with full eligibility at a rate not exceeding the income of the person less a sum of £2.50 per week or such larger sum as may be determined having regard to the circumstances of the case where the person,

(i) has not dependants, and

(ii) has been in receipt of in-patient services for 90 days.

The practice in the North-Western Health Board is to allow such patients to retain a minimum of £6 per week.