Written Answers. - Disabled Persons' Residential Accommodation.
Ivor Callely
Question:
29
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Health
if he will give a breakdown of the 480 people with a disability in the Eastern Health Board area as given in reply to a Parliamentary Question on 24 October 1995; the persons who are awaiting residential accommodation; the likely timescale for such persons to be offered accommodation; the reason people with a disability are on the waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18118/95]
, Limerick East): In my reply of 24 October 1995 to the Deputy's question regarding the number of persons with a disability awaiting residential care, I stated that the figures given in respect of persons with a mental handicap had been provided to my Department by the health boards earlier this year. I also stated that they did not take account of the additional 243 residential places for which funding had been provided in 1995.
The figure of 480 persons with a mental handicap awaiting places in residential services in the Eastern Health Board region to which the Deputy has referred in his current question reflected the preliminary information which was available to the board at that time from the mental handicap database.
Since then, both the health boards and my Department have been working to complete the process involved in validating the initial information from the database. The database information includes details of the numbers in receipt of services on a full-time basis, those in receipt of services on a part-time or shared basis, those who are currently without a service and who require immediate placement and those who will require services in the near future. It is hoped to have the validation process completed towards the end of the year.
The current figure available from the Eastern Health Board, which is still subject to final validation, indicates that a total of 414 persons with a mental handicap are awaiting places in residential services. The breakdown of this number between the various community care areas is as follows:
|
Community Care Area
|
Number on Residential Waiting List
|
|
1
|
71
|
|
2
|
36
|
|
3
|
22
|
|
4
|
40
|
|
5
|
28
|
|
6
|
105
|
|
7
|
39
|
|
8
|
54
|
|
9
|
15
|
|
10
|
4
|
|
Total
|
414
|
In compliance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act with regard to the preservation of confidentiality of personal information, the information submitted to my Department from the health boards does not include the names of individual clients. This information is retained at health board and agency level and it would not be appropriate for me to give these details.
Prior to the establishment of the database, information on the numbers awaiting services did not distinguish between current and future need nor did it reflect the level of support required by those on the waiting lists for services. The database will provide this information which will enable my Department and the health boards to assess the needs more accurately and to plan the development of the services in a more co-ordinated manner. The timescale for meeting the needs of the people on the waiting list for residential care in the eastern region will be dependent on a number of factors. These include the level of immediate need identified by the database, the mortality rate among the older client population in existing services, and the level of increased resources, both capital and revenue, which can be made available to the services over a given period of time. The Deputy will be aware that since 1990, some 1,030 additional residential and respite places have been provided nationally for people with mental handicap.
Some of the major factors influencing the size of the waiting list for residential care in the eastern region include the growth in the overall population in the region in recent years, the age profile of persons with mental handicap and their carers and the increased longevity of persons with mental handicap resulting in fewer vacancies arising in existing services.
