asked the Minister for Health the plans he has for the continuing service of Cregg House, Sligo, which is catering for children and adults with mental handicap from the surrounding counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
56.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Written Answers. - Cregg House, Sligo.
54.
asked the Minister for Health if he will provide the necessary financial resources direct to Cregg House, Sligo, to develop their community based services and care of the children who live in Cregg House; if he will reverse the decision to disallow children with a mild or moderate degree of handicap to continue to live and be cared for in Cregg House taking into account that many of these children have lived in Cregg House for most of their childhood and the parents of the children wish them to remain in the care of Cregg House; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 56 together.
Agreement was reached after a series of discussions between Cregg House, the management of the North-Western Health Board and my Department on proposals for the future development of mental handicap services in the region. These discussions aimed to facilitate, in the long run, the provision of the best possible service for people with mental handicap. The health board have deferred consideration of these proposals until later this year and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on them until the board have reached a decision in relation to them. However, I may say that the proposals provide for full consultation with the families of mentally handicapped persons before the implementation of the plans.