asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the accommodation provided for mentally handicapped long stay patients at a hospital (details supplied) in Dublin 20 is substandard and has been described as totally unsuitable for the purpose by hospital staff; if he has satisfied himself that sufficient funding is available to the hospital authorities to either upgrade the facility or alternatively to provide other suitable accommodation; when he expects the present difficulty to be resolved; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Mentally Handicapped Accommodation.
130.
The accommodation referred to by the Deputy is the former children's unit. This unit currently caters for 20 adult mentally handicapped who had been cared for by the child psychiatric services. Children who were previously accommodated in this unit have now been placed in community residences provided by the Eastern Health Board. The patients at present in this unit have special needs and the Eastern Health Board are in the process of seeking suitable alternative accommodation for them.