Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 1 Mar 2000

Vol. 515 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Special Needs Funding.

Mr. Wall

I know the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, is acquainted with hyp eractive attention deficit disorder and attention deficit disorder from his term in the Department of Education and Science and this is recognised by the relevant groups. Representations have been made to the Department and these were responded to in a letter sent to Mary Farrell on 21 February. The Minister has allocated £30,000 to a national review of this issue. The problem I wish to bring to the attention of the House is that these two groups have funded themselves in recent years without any assistance from the Eastern Health Board or the Department of Health and Children. The people involved have used their homes, telephones, faxes and so on to liaise with families who have problems with these disorders and with the Department of Health and Children. They have been acting as intermediaries between the relevant organisations and the Department of Health and Children, without receiving any reimbursement. They are not looking for salaries but for a refund of their expenses. They have now reached their limit. The Southern Health Board has funded the Munster group but the Eastern Health Board or the Department has not done the same for the Leinster group.

These disorders are a major problem and this is reflected in gross absenteeism from primary and secondary schools, although schools and parents are often unable to diagnose the difficulty. Some of the children involved have been brought before the courts – I see the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue is present. Testing and psychiatric care are unavailable. I appreciate the Minister has only recently taken up this portfolio. However, he was active in working for these groups when he was in the Department of Education and Science and I know this will continue in his current office.

I am asking for the provision of facilities for these groups in the short-term. I spoke to Brid Clarke of the Eastern Health Board regarding this matter and an office in Carmichael House is being made available. However, I ask the Minister to look at the funding of the groups immediately. He has allocated funding for a national review of the disorders by chief executive officers of the health boards. Given the good work done by these two groups, I ask that officials from the Minister's Department meet the groups, ascertain their problems and ensure these facilities continue to be provided for the families affected. I would like the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to work together on this serious problem which affects 5% of the children on the national school register. I ask the Minister to ensure a meeting takes place soon to make provisions similar to those he made when he was Minister for Education and Science.

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

I thank Deputy Wall for raising this matter. The diagnosis, assessment and treatment of attention deficit disorder, ADD, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, normally comes within the remit of the child and adolescent psychiatric services in each health board area. The development of a comprehensive child and adolescent psychiatric service in each health board area has been identified as a priority by my Department. Each of the health boards now has a dedicated, multi-disciplinary child and adolescent psychiatric service led by a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist. It is proposed that children and adults with attention deficit disorder will be provided for under this service.

A draft policy document for the further development of child and adolescent psychiatric services has been completed by Dr. Paul McCarthy, adviser to my Department on child and adolescent psychiatry. The draft development plan, which was circulated to all health boards for comments, includes consideration of the specific needs of children and adolescents with attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The views of the health boards are currently being considered and a final report is in preparation.

I recognise the important role of the voluntary sector in the provision of health and social services. It is acknowledged that local support groups have an important role to play, in many instances, in identifying needs in the community and in developing responses to them. In relation to the level of funding available for support groups for children suffering from ADD and ADHD, I am aware that some health boards have already provided financial assistance, as Deputy Wall said, to support groups operating in their respective functional areas and I understand that a number of health boards are in direct consultation with local support groups to discuss their needs, including funding requirements and what role the groups might have in the future development of services.

In the meantime, additional revenue resources of approximately £3 million have been provided since 1998 to enable improvements to be undertaken in the child and adolescent services, including development of services for children suffering from attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children published a report on attention deficit disorder in lreland in April 1999. One of the recommendations of the report was that £30,000 be made available to enable a national study to be undertaken on the prevalence of attention deficit disorder. I recently announced that I was happy to take this recommendation on board. I have provided the funding to enable this survey to be carried out.

I assure the House that I recognise that children and adults with these conditions have particular needs and I intend to make provision for these requirements as part of the overall development of child and adolescent psychiatric and adult mental health services over the next few years. I would be agreeable to organising a meet ing between the groups concerned and officials from my Department to progress the matters which are outstanding with the health board.