asked the Minister for Health the plans he has for the future development of hospital maternity services; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

My plans, which include estimates of cost, for the medium term development of the health infrastructure are under consideration by the Government. These plans include provision for the future development of hospital maternity services. I am not in a position to make a definitive statement on these plans until the capital allocation for the medium term for my Department is determined.

Has the Minister any criteria by which he decides which maternity units he wishes to close and which he leaves open?

The criteria will be those which successive Governments have adopted in the past five years and which I will continue to implement. Successive Ministers, including my three immediate predecessors, have adopted those criteria.

Can the Minister tell us what those criteria are, as his statement is in conflict with what previous Ministers did? There are maternity units closed which previous Ministers said should remain open.

I repeat that the only maternity units which I closed are in Trim and Dungarvan, Trim as a result of a decision by the North-Eastern Health Board because it was in a dangerous condition. In the case of Dungarvan I decided to accept the casting vote of the chairman that it should be closed because it was not adequate to provide the type of maternity services required. They are the only two which have been closed contrary to all of the propaganda about maternity services.

Can I take it from the Minister's reply that if a health board believe that a maternity unit should remain open the Minister will not close it?

The Deputy is referring to the North-Eastern Health Board and my position vis-á-vis that board is sub judice. There will be a hearing in the High Court in January and I am precluded from commenting on it.

Is the Minister aware that since he came to office a maternity unit in the Southern Health Board area, in Bantry, has been closed against the wishes of the Southern Health Board?

The maternity unit has not been closed by me. It was unable to provide services because the resident physician, Dr. McCoy, suffered a serious medical condition, as is public knowledge, and was unable to continue to provide a service there. I was unable to agree to the appointment of a consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist for a unit of that size and I proposed to make alternative arrangements, namely, to provide outpatient obstetrical and paediatrician services in that hospital, which it never had before. I also propose to make arrangements for dealing with emergency services in Bantry. Up to last February, when it closed, there were approximately four births each week and one could not justify the appointment of a consultant which, with back-up services, could cost £100,000 per year.