asked the Minister for Health if his Department will give a greatly increased subvention to the Western Health Board for the County Galway Association for Mentally Handicapped Children to ensure that their services for the mentally handicapped will be continued.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Mentally Handicapped Services.
10.
Mr. Kitt, Mr. Callanan, Mr. Hussey, Dr. Loughnane, Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn and Mr. Molloy
The Galway Association for Mentally Handicapped Children is supported by the Western Health Board, which I understand has promised a grant of £20,000 to the association for the current year. The board has still under consideration the association's request for an increase in that amount.
Mr. Kitt
Is the Minister aware that this association had hoped to spend £52,000 this year to provide services for severely handicapped children, who are the direct responsibility of the Department of Health? Unless a greater allocation is provided the association will not be able to make available open day centres in Galway. Could the Minister give a greater allocation to the health board for this association?
It is the health board who are entitled to give the grant. As I have said to the Deputy in the original reply, the Western Health Board are considering the possibility of giving an increased grant over and above the sum of £20,000 which has already been notified to them. I cannot anticipate the decision of the Western Health Board in that matter, but I hope they will be generous towards this association.
Does the Minister realise that because of the restraints imposed on the Western Health Board, the board are unable to keep that commitment to the Association for Mentally Handicapped Children, and would he ensure, even at this late stage, that the shortfall would be met by direct subvention from his Department?
Would the Deputy please be brief?
The health board are not able to provide the necessary finance and would the Minister guarantee to provide it?
I cannot give the Deputy any guarantee that I could provide more money for the Western Health Board. Their allocation for this year is 12.7 per cent above their allocation for last year. As I said, the Western Health Board are considering an increase on the £20,000 grant, and I will be glad to see that decision made by the health board.
Would the Minister guarantee that——
I am sorry, I cannot.
It appears that this organisation is unable to carry on without further assistance, and I would ask the Minister to seriously consider coming to the aid of this association who give voluntary service.
I appreciate the work they are doing, but I would be dishonest with the House were I to say I could allocate any more money to them.
Mr. Kitt
Could I ask the Minister if he is aware that for the years 1974 and 1975 there was a shortfall of £20,000 in the funds allocated to the County Galway Association for the Mentally Handicapped? The allocation this year is £20,000, and there is still a shortfall. The association cannot open the day care centres planned for Glenmaddy and Carraroe unless some assistance is forthcoming.
I do not decide the amount which this association gets. It is the Western Health Board. There was a fair increase in the allocations in 1975 over 1974, and the same allocation has been made by the Western Health Board this year, £20,000, but as I have said before, the health board are considering whether they can increase that allocation.
Does the Minister——
I have already allowed a great deal of latitude on this.
Does the Minister not accept that the provision of educational facilities for these children should be the full responsibility of the state and that associations such as the Galway Association for Mentally Handicapped Children should not be expected to raise this huge amount of money that is necessary to keep the services going?
Ultimately I would like to see the State taking responsibility for such activities as are undertaken by this association. There are very many well intentioned associations in the whole country who find themselves in difficulty. One source of revenue is the health board and the other source is the revenue they can raise by their own efforts. I do not know whether they will be successful in meeting their commitments from moneys they raise by their own efforts. However, the Deputy will appreciate that while these organisations are doing extremely valuable work, there are thousands of such agencies who, when they find themselves in financial difficulties, appeal to the Minister for Health. The allocations made are fairly substantial and even though they may not be quite enough, I could not guarantee that I would be able to allocate any more money to any of the health boards.
Question No. 11.
Does the Minister not accept that——
I have called the next question.
I just want to ask the Minister——
The Deputy will resume his seat. I have called the next question.
Does the Minister not accept——
The Deputy may not defy the Chair in this fashion.
On a point of order. There are three names to this question. I asked one supplementary and Deputy Hussey and Deputy Kitt asked two.
That is not a point of order.
In fairness, if we put down three separate questions, we could be debating this for 20 minutes or half-an-hour.