Tony Killeen
Question:298 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Health if he will allocate funds for the proposed workshop facility and accommodation for the mentally handicapped at Kilrush, County Clare in 1993.
Written Answers. - Funding for Mentally Handicapped.
An additional £8.5 million has been made available in 1993 for the development of services for people with mental handicap.
Of the additional £8.5 million I have made available new resources of £2 million to strengthen the funding base of the direct funded mental handicap agencies and to meet some essential service needs. A sum of £4 million has been allocated to the health board regions, of which £458,000 has been allocated to the Mid Western regions.
The precise services to be provided in the Mid-Western region with the additional funding is a matter to be agreed by the mental handicap co-ordinating committee, which is representative of the health board, voluntary agencies and parents, within the guidelines issued by my Department and will be subject to my approval.
Provision has also been made for the capital investment necessary to support the initiatives which will be put in place this year. The allocation of the £2.5 million capital funding made available in the budget will be directly related to the service developments agreed by the regional mental handicap co-ordinating committees and approved by my Department. Accordingly, it is not yet possible to indicate how much will be allocated to each area.
The acquisition of the property referred to by the Deputy will be considered for funding if it is included in the regional mental handicap co-ordinating committee's response as one of the developments necessary to meet priority needs within the additional funds made available to the regions.