asked the Minister for Health whether there has been any deviation from the proposals as set out in Building on Reality, 1985-87 for the upgrading and extension of the County Hospital, Naas, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter having regard to the confusion caused by the delay with the clearing of the planning brief which is currently before his Department.

There has been no deviation from the proposals contained in Building on Reality in relation to the development of the County Hospital, Naas. I am at present considering, in the context of my Department's capital allocation for the years 1985-1987, when this project can proceed to the next stage of planning and onwards from that point to complete re-development in accordance with the planning brief which has been prepared.

Having regard to the tremendous amount of work remaining to be done in relation to the evaluation of the present hospital structure and bearing in mind that a major decision will have to be taken on how the building of a new wing is to take place, would the Minister not agree that it is imperative that the next stage of the programme be started now, that is the establishment of the design team? Is the Minister aware that it has been suggested by a member of the Eastern Health Board that there was a specific reason for this delay and would he say if he is aware of the reason?

I can assure the Deputy that the Minister for Finance and I have been reviewing in considerable detail the proposed development of this hospital and that a satisfactory announcement is imminent. In reply to the second part of the Deputy's question, I can assure him that my party colleague on the Eastern Health Board was, to put it at its most polite, greviously in error in making any such suggestion regarding the capital programme of my Department with particular reference to Loughlinstown Hospital. They have no connection whatsoever within the framework of the health capital programme. I regret that such nonsense should have been peddled in relation to Naas Hospital.

I welcome the indication that a decision is imminent. But in view of the long drawn out process entailed in the next stage would the Minister not agree that a decision now would allow ample opportunity for a thorough evaluation of the work to be undertaken rather than postponing this decision some weeks or months? Would the Minister perhaps consider that?

The decision under review is the proceeding to stage two of the development and I can assure the Deputy that an announcement on that matter will be made in the very near future.