At present there is not very much to be said on this Estimate, but it has occurred to me that perhaps it might be considered a good thing to take the inmates of this institution and ask some authority like the Grangegorman Mental Asylum Committee to take them over and keep them, as they have to keep some of their patients, in a place apart. I do not know whether the Grangegorman Committee would be willing to do that or not. I do not know even — I have not given much consideration to the matter— whether it would be a wise policy or not, but I suggest it to the Minister as something that might get consideration. As he has just said, the smaller the number of patients the higher the cost per head. £128 per head for the upkeep of these patients is a high figure. There are 58 officials for 115 patients. That means two patients for each official, practically. That is out of all proportion.
It is a good thing we have not more of these patients, and in all probability cases of this kind will be growing less. I would however put it to the Minister that it is worthy of consideration to ask a body like the Grangegorman Mental Hospital Committee whether they would not take these patients over. After all, although they are criminal lunatics, they are criminal because they are lunatics. There are in some asylums other than this criminal lunatic asylum patients who are dangerous lunatics, and who have to be segregated. Perhaps it would be possible to segregate the patients in this institution with similar patients in an institution like Grangegorman, thereby saving a considerable amount of money to the taxpayers.
