Frances Fitzgerald
Question:234 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of children with disabilities, categorised by disability type, in each health board area from 1995 to date in 2001. [18021/01]
Written Answers. - National Intellectual Disability Database.
As the Deputy is no doubt aware, the National Physical and Sensory Disability Database Development Committee, on which the Department, the Health Research Board, the health boards and the voluntary sector are represented, is currently developing a set of recommendations for the establishment of a national database. When complete, the database will provide information on the number of individuals with physical or sensory disabilities either in receipt of or requiring specialised health and personal social services.
The recommendations of the committee are being tested in phase one implementation of the database which is currently under way in four community care areas around the country. It is envisaged that the committee's report will be submitted to the Department later this year and that the database will be rolled out nationally in the following months. Until such a time as this database is established, I regret that there is no statistical information available relating to the numbers of children with physical and/or sensory disabilities.
Information in relation to the numbers of children with an intellectual disability is currently available from the national intellectual disability database, which was established in 1995, in relation to the following years, 1996, 1998 and 1999. Data in relation to 2000 will be available within the next few weeks and 2001 later this year. I will be forwarding details of the breakdown by health board region in respect of 1996, 1998 and 1999 to the Deputy within the next few days.
While the needs of some persons with autism are included on the national intellectual disability database, the database would not give an overall picture of the needs of this population group. It provides information on the numbers, ages and level of intellectual disability in respect of persons entered on the database and details of current levels of service provision, together with current and future needs over a five year period. It does not provide epidemiological information. In order to improve the level of information available to the Department and the boards and to ensure that appropriate response measures are being developed, the Department is currently discussing with the boards the establishment of an information system, which will provide this data. These discussions are at an early stage, but it is hoped that significant progress can be made this year in progressing this matter.