asked the Minister for Health if he will state the total number of mentally defective children in the State and the total number which can be accommodated in hospitals and other institutions suitable for the care and treatment of such children.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Mental Defectives.
No precise figures are available and, in the absence of a recent survey, any estimate must be regarded as tentative. On 31st December, 1953, there were 1,067 mentally defective children, under 19 years of age, in institutions approved by me under the Public Assistance Act, 1939.
The Deputy will appreciate that not all mentally defective children require to be placed in institutions.