Charles Flanagan
Question:127 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Health the number of people in the State who are mentally handicapped, physically handicapped and sensory handicapped, respectively.
Written Answers. - Mental Handicap Population.
It is estimated that the present mental handicap population is approximately 25,000. Of these, about 15,400 have a moderate, severe or profound degree of mental handicap and most require extensive support from the health services. The remainder have a mild mental handicap. A minority of this group require ongoing support from the health services.
Agreement has recently been reached between my Department and statutory and voluntary agencies providing services to people with mental handicap on the development of a national mental handicap information system which will be put in place in the coming months.
This system will provide information, on an ongoing basis, on the numbers of people with mental handicap in each region, the number in services and awaiting services, their current and future needs and the level of support which is required to meet those needs.
The availability of such information will enable my Department and those responsible for the provision of services to plan in a co-ordinated manner the services which will be required to meet both current and future needs.
For a variety of reasons, including the reluctance of some people to be labelled as disabled, there is no comprehensive source of information on the numbers of people with physical disabilities. However the following figures are based on the experience of organisations providing services to people with disabilities:
|
Cerebral Palsy |
9,000 |
|
Spina Bifida |
1,500 |
|
Multiple Sclerosis |
4,000 |
|
Visual Impairment |
7,000 |
|
Deaf |
3,500 |
|
Epilepsy |
20,000 |
|
Total |
45,000 |
My Department is having discussions with the National Rehabilitation Board with a view to developing a national database on people with physical disabilites.