Vol. 472 No. 3
75 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Health the amount of funding available to his Department or the agencies under the aegis of his Department, for recreation and community facilities; the source of such funding; the amount allocated to-date in 1996; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23100/96]
Limerick East): While recreation and community facilities are provided as part of the care programme for clients in various areas of the health services, there is no specific funding allocated for these purposes. Funding is allocated for such purposes by health boards according to needs and priorities identified as part of the overall management of services.
Recreation and community facilities are provided as an integral part of care programmes. Examples include gymnasia, swimming pools which are provided for hydrotherapy purposes, respite care/holiday breaks and recreational activities for children in care. In addition, health boards also fund pre-schools, day care centres and family resource centres which act as both community facilities and centres where therapeutic and medical care is provided. It is not possible to separately quantify the amount of funding allocated towards such services which have a recreational or community facility aspect.
