Vol. 537 No. 5
301 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Health and Children the improved facilities that are available for parents of children and teenagers who suffer from attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder which were not available when parliamentary Question No. 116 of 19 October 2000 was submitted for answer. [16622/01]
The development of child and adolescent psychiatric services has been a priority in recent years. This year, additional revenue funding of £3.225 million has been allocated to health boards for the enhancement of existing consultant-led, multidisciplinary teams and towards the establishment of a further seven teams. Each health board now has in place a minimum of two consultant-led child and adolescent multidisciplinary teams.
302 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Health and Children if, in view of comments by a person (details supplied) on the high percentage of prisoners who suffer from attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he will make a pre-emptive strike and invest money to fully deal with those who suffer from these disorders, thus preventing their imprisonment at greater expense to the taxpayer. [16623/01]
A working group was established by my Department in June 2000 to review child and adolescent psychiatry and to finalise a plan for its future development. I received the first report of the working group on child and adolescent psychiatric services on 1 March 2001. The report contains recommendations on the development of services for the management and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorders and hyperactivity kinetic disorder – ADHD-HKD – and the development of child, six to 12 years, and adolescent, 12 to 16 years, psychiatric in-patient units.
The development of child and adolescent psychiatric services has been a priority in recent years. This year additional revenue funding of £3.225 million was allocated to provide for the appointment of additional consultants and for the further development of multidisciplinary consultant-led teams. Capital funding is being provided under the national development plan for the development of the specialist in-patient units for children and adolescents. Additional funding required to fully implement the recommendations of the working group will be the subject of discussion in the annual estimates negotiations in respect of 2002 and subsequent years.
