asked the Minister for Health the number of mentally retarded children on the waiting lists for admission to institutions; and what steps are being taken to meet the needs of such cases.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Mentally Retarded Children.
59.
At 31st March, 1968, there were 896 mentally handicapped children on the health authorities waiting lists for institutional care. As I indicated to the House on the 7th May, 1968, there are at present plans for the provision of an additional 750 places for mentally handicapped children. These plans are intended to meet the requirements of the severely and moderately handicapped children, whose needs, I feel, demand a degree of priority.
Can the Minister give the first figure for the number of applicants?
896.
Can the Minister indicate how soon he can deal with these?
I think I said in reply to Deputy Dillon on another occasion that we hoped to have this problem solved in three years.
Would the Minister agree that one of the big problems here is that when a child reaches 16 years of age, the mentally handicapped centre usually wishes to send back the child to its native county where, in many cases, the only available place for it is the mental hospital or the county home? If, as was done in Donegal an approach were made to alleviate the difficulty of this bottleneck of children in early adolescence by sending them to centres that would cater for them in a protective way in sheltered workshops and so on, would this not go a long way to solving the problem?
We are talking about waiting lists for the admission of children. The problem of dealing with 16-year-olds is another matter and, as I said in my reply, I regard it as a matter of some priority that severely and moderately mentally handicapped children should have sufficient places provided for them throughout the country. When I said I hoped to be able to have a place for everybody in three years, the House will, I know, appreciate that it is not merely a question of providing physical accommodation but also a matter of providing the necessary staff.
In view of the pain and anguish caused to parents by this necessity to wait for accommodation, can the Minister not do anything in the interim period that would relieve the strain on these parents?
I wish to acknowledge the interest the Minister has taken in this problem but the question I asked is whether, if the bottleneck of children reaching the age of 16 to 18 was relieved and suitable accommodation provided for them in some of the institutions now closing, such as sanatoria, the admission of the younger children on the waiting lists could be very much accelerated.
I am aware of the situation but I think it would be more appropriately discussed on another occasion.
Could the Minister give me any guarantee that a mentally retarded child of nine who is a danger to his little brothers and sisters would be accepted for admission in one of these schools?
The Deputy will appreciate that I should like to see them all admitted and I am doing my best for them. If the Deputy sends me particulars of the case and there are exceptional circumstances, I shall certainly do all I can to help.
Is it a question of money that is holding up this? If so, I think the referendum should be dropped and the Minister should deal with this problem first.
That is what I would expect from Deputy Coogan. It is unworthy of him but then he is not a very worthy Deputy.