Vol. 566 No. 1
407 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Health and Children the capitation funding provided per capita to children with autism or those with another disability; the total funding provided for children with autism; the numbers involved; the equivalent figures for other disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11382/03]
Funding for persons with an intellectual disability or autism is not provided on a capitation basis. Additional funding has been made available annually in recent years to the health boards in respect of the provision of health related support services for persons with autism, intellectual, physical or sensory disabilities. In particular, €14.6 million has been invested in health-related support services for children with autism or intellectual disability nationally between 1998 and 2002. This includes diagnostic and assessment services, early intervention, home support and outreach support to children of school-going age. In addition to this ring-fenced funding, children with disabilities have benefited from the additional therapy posts which have been put in place in services for persons with physical or sensory disabilities.
Given the fact that children with disabilities can receive support from both specialist support services and through the community services, the information requested by the Deputy in relation to overall expenditure is not readily available in my Department. From information provided to my Department by the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority in November 2002, there were 1,525 children with autism under the age of 18 known to their services. The 2001 data from the national intellectual disability database indicated that there were 9,222 children with an intellectual disability aged 19 or under on the database. However, as some children with autism also have an intellectual disability and are therefore on the database, it is probable that there is some overlap between the sets of information. Initial work was carried out in 2002 on the development of an information system which would give a level of information on the needs of persons with autism, similar to that already available from the national intellectual disability database. This work is being continued during 2003.
The national physical and sensory disability database is currently being rolled out nationally, following its launch in March 2002. To date, data collected on 16,343 individuals has been registered on the database. This figure represents just over 38.5% of the projected figure of 41,250 individuals for the database in accordance with those registered during phase 1 of the roll out. However, it is noteworthy that some health boards have indicated that the final figures registered on the database may be lower than originally estimated. As the Deputy can see from the measures outlined above, the Government is continuing to work to expand the level of support available nationally to children with disabilities.
