asked the Minister for Health if he will make adequate finance available to the Southern Health Board to open the wards which are closed in the Tralee general hospital.

To ensure an orderly development of services at the new general hospital at Tralee and to allow the new services that are being provided sufficient time to become properly established, it was decided that its beds would be commissioned on a phased basis. To date 289 beds, which is about 100 beds more than was available in St. Catherine's, have been commissioned and these include a new paediatric and neo-natal unit and orthopaedic unit. Up to the commissioning of the new hospital both of these services were provided for the people of Kerry outside the county.

The Southern Health Board agree with the approach being adopted in relation to Tralee Hospital and have not submitted any proposal to my Department for the commissioning of the remaining unopened beds.

It is a pity that there are about 150 beds in the new general hospital in Tralee which are not occupied. Would the Minister consider having the geriatric assessment unit opened especially in view of the fact that St. Anne's Isolation Hospital in Kerry is being closed? It accommodated many of the geriatric patients before they went to a geriatric home.

I am examining that situation together with the psychiatric unit situation in Tralee but the general bed situation in the hospital is quite comfortable. It is a very large hospital with 425 beds. I can assure the Deputy that in relation to the two points he has made I am now examining them with the Southern Health Board particularly in relation to Killarney and Tralee.